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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28028751">Reflections</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TariSilmarwen/pseuds/TariSilmarwen'>TariSilmarwen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mirrorverse [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars: Rebels</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ableism, Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety, Blood, Blood and Injury, Burns, Canon Disabled Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Concussions, Crash Landing, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drowning, Electrocution, Emotional Hurt, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Episode: s04e01-02 Heroes of Mandalore, Episode: s04e03-04 In the Name of the Rebellion, Episode: s04e09 Rebel Assault, Episode: s04e13 The World Between Worlds, Execution, Ezra Bridger Gets a Hug, Ezra Bridger Needs a Hug, F/M, Flashbacks, Gen, Injury Recovery, Kallus as an Exasperated Parent to Iron Squadron, Kanan Jarrus Lives, Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death, Minor Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Parental Hera Syndulla, Parental Kanan Jarrus, Past Abuse, Past Torture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pregnancy, Psychological Trauma, Recovery, The World Between Worlds (Star Wars), Trauma, Triggers, Tristan is a shipper troll, alternate season four, even dead maul continues to be The Worst, everyone can see it (sabezra), minor Alrich Wren/Ursa Wren, saw is Not Nice, slow burn sabezra, villainous breakdown</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:02:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>51,509</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28028751</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TariSilmarwen/pseuds/TariSilmarwen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ezra deals with the aftermath of being kidnapped by Maul and the Ghost crew comes home to Lothal at last.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alexsandr Kallus &amp; Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, Alrich Wren &amp; Sabine Wren, Ezra Bridger &amp; Alexsandr Kallus, Ezra Bridger &amp; Alrich Wren, Ezra Bridger &amp; C1-10P | Chopper, Ezra Bridger &amp; Darth Maul, Ezra Bridger &amp; Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, Ezra Bridger &amp; Hera Syndulla, Ezra Bridger &amp; Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger &amp; The Ghost Crew, Ezra Bridger/Sabine Wren, Sabine Wren &amp; Ursa Wren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mirrorverse [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556785</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>214</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Echoes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Greetings once again my dear and loyal readers!</p><p>November was... kind of a month for me out in realspace. I tried doing NaNoWriMo but just wasn't really into it this year, and completely stalled out once certain emergencies demanded my immediate attention and brainspace. I'm still processing A Lot. So I decided to funnel some of that emotion and energy into this, the next installment of the Mirrorverse series.</p><p>If you're new here, I apologize, you will be very lost, and I do recommend reading the previous installments ("Cracks In The Mirror", "Splinters", and "Shatterpoint") for the full context of things. But here's a basic summary of the whole AU: Thrawn got to Ezra's cell first in "Through Imperial Eyes" and had him tortured for information before Kallus and the others could rescue him. Ezra has been dealing with the fallout and PTSD of those events ever since, not helped by him being kidnapped by a very desperately over-protective Maul and held for two weeks to suffer more abuse in the previous fic "Shatterpoint". Ezra overcame some of the effects of his trauma in a Force Vision (that also knighted him like Kanan's did in "Shroud of Darkness") and managed to escape and defeat Maul and reunite with his family.</p><p>This fic picks up almost immediately on the heels of "Shatterpoint", and will continue along various modified Season Four events up until the finale.</p><p>For returning readers, welcome back! I do hope you enjoy this latest chapter in the series. Let's get to it, shall we?</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ezra's nightmares don't end just because Maul is dead.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Late afternoon sun burned hot and humid on the canopy of the jungle. Fortunately there was still a cool breeze whistling through the trees, keeping everything from being completely uncomfortable, but Kanan's collar still felt a bit sticky on his skin as he knelt in meditation, breathing in and out and focusing his energies.</p><p>The moisture-imbued air passed through his lungs in a soft rhythm.</p><p>He wasn't so far into the depths of the Force that he didn't notice Ezra, walking towards him with slow footsteps, signature hesitant and cautious, coming up on him from behind.</p><p>Kanan pulled himself out of meditation at once, turning his head around.</p><p>"Ezra?" he called.</p><p>"Hey."</p><p>The boy's voice was flat, toneless, his emotions dulled. Kanan got to his feet, already a little anxious, turning around to face towards him fully now.</p><p>"What is it?" he asked.</p><p>There was a long inhale and exhale from Ezra. Kanan could picture the boy's posture from the trembling sense he got off him in the Force—head down, arms around his elbows holding himself, guarded and closed off. Kanan was already mentally preparing himself to comfort the boy.</p><p>Ezra was silent a moment more. Then:</p><p>"Maul's dead."</p><p>Kanan blinked behind the mask. Whatever he'd been expecting, it hadn't been that.</p><p>"Are you sure?" he asked carefully.</p><p>He sensed Ezra nod. "I felt it," Ezra confirmed soberly.</p><p>A breath of silence and then it was his turn to take a long exhale, this one of relief, a tingling solace, breathless and exhilarating, rising up through his body.</p><p>Maul was dead. He wouldn't come back after them. He would never threaten Kanan's padawan again. Ezra was <em>safe.</em></p><p>Kanan allowed himself the small victory, before returning his attention to his troubled apprentice. Ezra had relayed the news almost as though he were in conflict about it. Kanan probed gently through their bond, but Ezra's walls were up, he was closed off and numb.</p><p>He supposed that wasn't surprising.</p><p>"How do you feel?" he asked, reaching out a gentle concern to Ezra through their bond.</p><p>Ezra struggled for words a moment. "Relieved?" he finally offered. Kanan heard him shift, his head leveling again. "I think... I think some part of me was always worried that he'd break his promise and come after me again," Ezra confessed, traces of fear lining his voice.</p><p>A soft breath, shuddering, like Ezra was trying to hold back tears.</p><p>"He lied to me so many times. I never..." Displaced air as the boy shook his head, vigorously. "I could just never tell what he was going to do. If he was going to keep his word or break it. If he was going to..." His words tightened, straining past something in his throat. "...<em>hurt </em>me or not."</p><p>Kanan's heart wrenched and he couldn't stand it anymore, he had to have his arms around his padawan, had to hold him and make sure he knew he didn't have to be afraid.</p><p>The boy's slight frame folded so easily into his chest, and Ezra didn't hesitate to cling back to Kanan, his shoulders shuddering, wrought with emotion.</p><p>Kanan stroked a hand over Ezra's head, smoothing down the soft hair. "He can't hurt you anymore," he promised. "He's gone."</p><p>"Yeah," Ezra laughed shakily, leaning into the embrace for a long moment before he pulled back. "I just... I thought I'd be happier about it, is all."</p><p>"It's okay to feel conflicted," Kanan assured him. "You pitied him, after all."</p><p>"Not as much as I hated him," Ezra countered. He sighed. "You're right, though. Even... even after everything he did to me, all he put me through... I still feel sad that he's gone." The words made Kanan think Ezra was pinching his eyes closed, screwing up his face. "It doesn't make <em>sense</em>."</p><p>Kanan chuckled shortly. "It's that Jedi compassion," he said. "It always makes us regret the loss of life, even of the worst scumbags. The Force is in all things, and no matter how bad someone is, they still leave a hole behind when they go. So it's normal to feel a little bit of grief, even for Maul." He scrunched his brows a little, suddenly anxious. "Am I making sense?"</p><p>"Actually," Ezra quipped, his voice lighter than before, "yeah." He sighed, pushing away from Kanan, stepping back. "Sorry to bother you about all this," he apologized softly. "I know you've got your mind full with... other things," he said evasively.</p><p>There was a sorrow behind his words that Kanan hated. He reached out, gripping Ezra's shoulder firmly, face tightening with conviction.</p><p>"Hey," he said. "It's my job to worry about you. You're not any less my son just because I'm having a kid of my own now."</p><p>Ezra's emotions welled up in the Force, blazing with gratitude and warmth.</p><p>Kanan cracked a grin. "And just because a Force vision knighted you doesn't mean I'm not still your master. I still have a <em>lot </em>to teach you," he teased.</p><p>Ezra's eyes must have been shining, from the way he said softly, "I know." He seemed much calmer now, a cool patch of tranquility in the Force.</p><p>The boy's arms were around him again, suddenly, and Kanan grunted with mild surprise before relaxing, and letting his arms drop around Ezra again.</p><p>He held the young Jedi, leaning his chin against the top of Ezra's head.</p><p>"Thank you..." Ezra whispered.</p><p>Kanan gripped him tighter. "I'll always be here, Ezra," he promised. "Just let me know if you need me."</p><p>"I'll always need you."</p><p>Kanan let a soft, fond smile play on his lips. "Somehow I doubt that," he quipped.</p><p>But he let Ezra hold on until they were finally called away by Rebel Command.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Kanan had thought the matter settled for the day. Ezra seemed cheerful and calm the rest of the afternoon, Kanan made sure he did his exercises before going to bed, and then he retired for the night assuming his padawan would be okay.</p><p>Up until tremors of fear through their bond woke him up in the wee hours of the night.</p><p>Kanan pulled his head from his pillow, blinking groggily, trying to make sense of the alarm the Force was sounding inside his head.</p><p>Quiet dread and horror hit the pit of his stomach as he realized the feeling was coming from Ezra.</p><p>"Oh no..." he breathed, rising to his elbows as he quickly pulled himself off the bed.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>
  <em>The caverns of Ilum seemed to shrink around him as he stared ahead with wide, horrified eyes.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"No..." Ezra breathed, stepping backwards in slow terror. "You're dead." He clung to that certainty as he kept retreating, ice scraping under his boots. "You're dead! You died, I </em>
  <em>
    <strong>felt</strong>
  </em>
  <em> it!" he cried.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The shadow in the doorway, blocking his way, took a threatening step into the room.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Do you think death can rid you of my influence?" Maul smirked, his eyes glowing in the dim blue light, the kyber in the walls fading into red as he passed. "I will </em>
  <em>
    <strong>always</strong>
  </em>
  <em> be part of you, Ezra." He stalked forward, his hands clasped so casually behind him, as if he wasn't sending Ezra into panic just with his mere appearance. His expression curled with ominous malice. "I'm in your mind," he said. "In your thoughts, always. I am the whisper that will be behind your ears, reminding you just how </em>
  <em>
    <strong>weak </strong>
  </em>
  <em>you are."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ezra's throat strangled on a breath, his head shrieking with denial. Maul kept walking towards him and Ezra stumbled as he recoiled, hands out stiffly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Get away from me!" he screamed, eyes fixed on the nightmare approaching him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He was suddenly falling backwards, toppling into shallow water. Ezra scrambled up onto his elbows, his chest ratcheting tighter as Maul was kneeling right in front of him and the cavern was drenched with eerie red light, reflecting in Maul's burning eyes.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ezra held up a hand, whimpering, crying out as he felt his shirt seized roughly by tattooed hands and then Maul was snarling right in his face.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You will always be </em>
  <em>
    <strong>my </strong>
  </em>
  <em>apprentice," he was hissing in furious anger, and Ezra could only weakly shake his head. The hands tightened. "</em>
  <em><strong>Mine</strong>,</em>
  <em>" Maul growled.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ezra choked on a scream as Maul shoved him down into the water, cold liquid sloshing into his mouth, burning down his throat.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He coughed desperately, breath escaping in large bubbles, but it was no use, he was already gargling, choking for air, Maul's fingers were latched around his neck on both sides, strangling him, pinning his head down under the surface. Ezra kicked up, scratched out, but Maul's weight was pressing down on his middle, crushing him underneath while his hands crushed Ezra's throat and he smirked down cruelly at the boy from the surface just inches away.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ezra thrashed frantically, blind panic taking him. Water sloshed around him and filled his lungs, burning horribly, stabbing like knives of cold fire in his chest.</em>
</p><p><em>No! he thought, retching helplessly. No no no no no</em>—</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Kanan stumbled over the threshold as he flung himself into the hallway. He couldn't find the door controls at first in his haste, smacking his palms at the wall twice before he finally landed on the button.</p><p>Zeb was already awake, pulling himself off his own bunk with a quiet rustle of sheets and clothes, already turning towards the restless, tossing figure of Ezra on the top bed. The boy's face was pinched tight in distress, and little whimpers and gasps escaped his mouth, as though he were having trouble breathing.</p><p>Kanan lurched into the room.</p><p>"How long has he been like this?" he asked frantically.</p><p>"A few minutes," Zeb confirmed. His attention returned firmly to the top bunk. "Ezra!" he called. He put a hand on Ezra's stomach to shake him awake. "Hey, Ezra! Wake up!"</p><p>Ezra gasped loudly as his eyes startled open.</p><p>Kanan's feet rooted and Zeb tensed too, watching the boy. Ezra's eyes were wide and he stared straight ahead as if in a slight daze, panting heavily, leaned up on his elbows. Clammy sweat clung to the hem of his nightclothes.</p><p>After a moment he seemed to come to himself, turning his head towards the two men.</p><p>"Kanan?" he called timidly.</p><p>The Jedi stepped up next to Zeb by the bunk, reaching up to squeeze Ezra's wrist. "I'm right here, Ezra," he promised. "You're okay. It was just a nightmare."</p><p>Ezra exhaled shakily, looking down towards his lap.</p><p>A soft flutter in the doorway had him glancing that way; Sabine stood there as well, hands clutching a blanket she'd pulled around her shoulders, wide-eyed worry and concern pinching her features.</p><p>Ezra's eyes dropped again, shame creeping across his cheeks. He shifted, dropping his legs over the side of the bunk, dangling them, hutching over, focusing leaden eyes on Kanan's steadying hand on his wrist.</p><p>"I..." he began hesitantly. "I thought... I thought the nightmares would be over... now that he's gone," he said.</p><p>The others listened patiently, Zeb reaching up and putting a hand on his shoulder, eyes strained with soft concern.</p><p>"He's dead. He won't come after me anymore. He can't," Ezra rambled on, starting to tremble. "So... so why am I still...?"</p><p>He trailed off, breath hitching, head leaning forward and eyes squeezing closed as tears threatened.</p><p>Zeb's hand moved behind his back, Kanan's lifted to grip his shoulder, and Sabine gave a soft cry as she pushed into the room, squeezing between the two men in order to clasp Ezra's left hand.</p><p><em>Afraid</em>, was the word all of their minds supplied, to fill in the blank.</p><p>Ezra's free hand reached up to smear across his right eye. "He's... he's in my <em>head</em>, Kanan I—" He hiccuped softly. "—I can't <em>escape</em> him," he finished in despair. "He's still <em>there.</em>"</p><p>Kanan fumed silently, anger welling up inside him. His kid was hurting, <em>had</em> been hurt so badly, and he couldn't even punish the one responsible because the rat bastard was already dead, nothing but a ghost left behind in Ezra's mind.</p><p>It took a bit of stretching, but he pulled Ezra closer, hand on the back of his neck. He seemed so small in the gray pajamas; that he'd felt safe enough to wear them had been a minor miracle in Kanan's opinion, up until Maul had rudely shown up to steal that sense of safety away. It wasn't the Jedi way, but Kanan honestly hated the man for a moment.</p><p>"He's <em>gone</em>," he emphasized firmly, a bit of a growl under his words. "He's nothing but shadows and bad memories and nightmares now." A protective determination hardened his features. The monster haunting his padawan was <em>not</em> going to win. "And we've gotten pretty good at handling those," he pointed out.</p><p>Zeb nodded in agreement. "Right," he said. "This is just like the <em>Chimaera</em>. We take it one day at a time eh?" He leaned his furry brow against Ezra's forehead, surprisingly softly. "An' we're with you every step of the way," he vowed with sincere warmth.</p><p>"You won't get over this, Ezra," Kanan went on. "But you'll get through it. We all will. Together," he finished quietly, echoing words he'd said to Hera in the midst of her own despair and hopelessness.</p><p>Sabine added her silent support by squeezing Ezra's hand.</p><p>Ezra inhaled again, slowly, his shaking subsiding. A couple seconds passed.</p><p>When he breathed out again his tremors had stopped, and his aura in the Force was calmer, less agitated. Settled.</p><p>Soft footfalls from the hallway had them all looking over to see Hera hovering at the door.</p><p>"Everything all right?" she asked.</p><p>Ezra nodded quietly.</p><p>"Nightmare," Zeb explained, stepping aside, giving Ezra space.</p><p>Hera nodded in understanding. "I thought so." To Ezra, she asked gently, "Would you like something hot to drink, Ezra?"</p><p>He cracked a faint smile. "Yeah. I think so."</p><p>He squeezed Sabine's hand back, gratefully, then let go and slid down off the side of the bunk, landing a bit awkwardly on his bare feet. Kanan backed up to let him pass, and he joined Hera out in the hall, the Twi'lek pilot sliding an arm around his shoulders softly.</p><p>"Come on, let's go up to the cockpit," she whispered, rubbing his arm.</p><p>The other three lingered a moment or two in Ezra's room as Hera led the boy down the central hallway. Sabine eventually wandered off back to her room, the door sliding closed with a hiss.</p><p>Kanan sighed heavily and leaned back against the wall, pressing hands over his face.</p><p>"Hey," Zeb encouraged. "He'll be all right."</p><p>Kanan wished he could be certain of that.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>He checked on Ezra one last time before he finally allowed himself to go back to sleep. His pawadan was curled up in the copilot's seat, feet on the cushions, wrapped up and tucked in with one of Hera's blankets, head drooped against the back and breathing softly. His empty cup rested on the console and Chopper warbled quietly at his port, adjusting the comm system to play soft static through the speakers.</p><p>Hera smiled up at him as he stepped into the cockpit. She watched him put a hand on Ezra's head, his lips pinched, expression probing in concentration.</p><p>Ezra didn't stir, continuing to breathe in and out steadily.</p><p>Apparently satisfied, Kanan drew back.</p><p>"I've got him, Kanan," Hera promised. She touched a hand to his arm, gently admonishing. "Get some sleep."</p><p>He acknowledged her with a nod, sensing out just once more to make sure and reassure himself that Ezra was fast asleep, and dreaming peacefully. Not a whisper of fear flitted through the boy. Maybe he <em>would</em> be okay. At least for now.</p><p>Trudging, Kanan made his way back to his own room, tired and worn out from worry.</p><p>He lay awake for long anxious minutes before a blissful, dreamless and restful sleep came to him too.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, your friendly and informative chapter notes!</p><p>1. Recurring readers will remember that Hera has already told Kanan that she's pregnant in this timeline. Ezra may be having some anxious irrational replacement fears about that, that of course Kanan had to readily disperse because he <i>is</i> Ezra's father dammit, in all but name.</p><p>2. Ezra's anti-nightmare Force meditations do not, ah... appear to have worked this time. This section was based on some admittedly real-world anxieties about believing someone was okay until suddenly they weren't, and it blindsiding you completely and bowling you over.</p><p>3. Soft spacefamily comfort. I needed this, okay? Made sure to get everyone in on it of course.</p><p>4. As I mentioned, I am... <i>processing</i> a few things with this fic so if the emotions seem a little rawer than usual... that's why.</p><p>A bit of a heavy chapter to start with, but I promise there will be some levity here and there to keep our spirits up. (Next chapter is one such chapter.) Leave a comment or review if you enjoyed it and please do stay tuned for the rest! Thank you.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Pressing Questions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Kallus has some burning questions about the nature of Ezra and Sabine's relationship.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello dear readers! Here I am with that promised light-hearted chapter I mentioned.</p><p>This chapter was originally the only one I had planned for this fic, which was <i>meant</i> to be a one-shot, at first conception. Ha ha ha ha yeah predictably I had ideas continue multiplying until we wound up here. Go figure.</p><p>It is still one that I had been looking forward to writing and I hope you all enjoy it too. I'll let you get to it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kallus's face was pinched as he strode across the landing pad, heading purposefully for Zeb as the Lasat barked sharply at a stray astromech droid.</p><p>"No, no, no! I already told you, we <em>don't</em> need another tune-up of the landing struts!" he grumbled at the red and white R4. "And besides, the only droid as gets to touch Hera's ship is Chopper, and he'll bash you to pieces if you put one manipulator on her freighter," he added.</p><p>The R4 unit swiveled down with a forlorn beep.</p><p>Zeb waved his paws in a shooing motion. "Now get," he barked.</p><p>Sadly, the astromech turned on its wheels and rolled off, moaning a lonely beep as it departed.</p><p>Kallus raised an eyebrow as he came up to stand next to Zeb, who only huffed and brushed off his hands with a casual shrug.</p><p>"Droids," he said only in explanation.</p><p>Kallus gave a single understanding nod. Then his features wrinkled again and he called to Zeb as the Lasat picked up a data pad from the nearby stack of supply crates.</p><p>"Zeb? I wondered if you might shed some light on something for me," he asked. He glanced across the field towards where Ezra and Sabine were walking companionably, laughing at something private on their way to the mess hall.</p><p>Zeb set down his data pad at once, turning to face him with a grin. "Sure. Whadda you want t'know?" he asked.</p><p>Kallus's features twisted with chagrin and distress. He gestured helplessly with open-palmed hands as he spoke.</p><p>"Ezra and Sabine... they're in love, aren't they?" he plied.</p><p>There was a long silence between them for a moment.</p><p>Zeb burst into loud laughter.</p><p>He doubled over slightly as he guffawed, sides shaking, braying out his amusement to the confusion of several Rebel passerbys.</p><p>"Wha-wha-wha-what's with that question all of a sudden?" he stuttered out, breathlessly, between chortles.</p><p>The ex-ISB agent's mouth had flattened into a sour frown at not being taken seriously.</p><p>"It's been <em>bothering</em> me," he said through gritted teeth, vaguely irritated.</p><p>Zeb leaned back up with a wide, teasing grin, baring wily teeth. "Oh, we're suddenly interested in the love lives of teenagers now?" he snickered, his shoulders still quaking with laughter.</p><p>Exasperated, Kallus gestured with sharp motions. "Look it's only way I can reconcile how they act around each other."</p><p>Finally calming down from his laughing fit, Zeb's shoulders settled and now confusion began to steal over his features. "How d'you mean?" he asked.</p><p>"Their whole... everything!" Kallus cried. He started pacing in place a bit as he explained. "They're rarely apart these days and they seem to go everywhere together, to meals, for training and debriefings, she's been accompanying him to all his medical checks since we got him back; they're practically glued at the hip!"</p><p>"Uh, yeah?" Zeb said, unimpressed. "They <em>are</em> friends you know."</p><p>"Friends who are <em>extremely </em>protective of each other and worry about each other to the point where they fall apart if something bad happens to one of them," he pointed out. His agitated pacing stopped a moment and he wrung hands through his messy blonde hair, looking upwards. "At least, that's been my observation when it comes to Sabine." He gestured again, lightly, meeting Zeb's eyes in earnest fervor. "With how she reacted when that Zabrak kidnapped him... it did make me start to question some... things," he trailed evasively, grimacing at the memory of his and Sabine's <em>extraordinarily</em> awkward conversation in the Alliance's listening room.</p><p>Zeb had sobered, and was now thoughtfully stroking his beard, looking pensive.</p><p>"Come t' think of it," he mused, "Sabine <em>has</em> been pretty fussy over him lately." He dropped his hand, looking at Kallus. "Like... worried girlfriend sort of fussy," he clarified.</p><p>Kallus squinted at him. "What do you mean by 'lately', exactly? Since after we rescued him?" he asked.</p><p>Zeb shook his head. "Mmn. Earlier. After the <em>Chimaera</em>, I think."</p><p>He mentally ran through the interactions between them he'd borne witness to since arriving on Yavin, and nodded to himself. "That does track with what I've observed," Kallus muttered.</p><p>"But why are you asking me about all this for, anyway?" Zeb said, scratching at the fur on his head.</p><p>"Well you've known them far longer than I have."</p><p>"Yeah but..." Zeb protested. "I don't, like...<em> involve </em>myself in everything they do on a day to day basis."</p><p>Kallus's hands opened palm-outward, exasperated. "I <em>just</em> want to know if you've picked up any..." He made helpless circular motions. "...<em>vibes</em> from them at all." His voice dropped back to a mutter as he glowered at the ground. "Or if I'm going crazy and this is all in my head," he grumbled.</p><p>The hand that had been scratching his fur was now rubbing the back of his head, expression a bit thoughtful. "I mean... Ezra <em>did </em>have a massive crush on Sabine back when he first joined," Zeb told him.</p><p>Kallus blinked. "Really?"</p><p>Zeb nodded. "Oh yeah, followed her around like a lost tooka, flirted at her all the time." He dropped his hands with a snort. "It was a little pathetic actually," he said.</p><p>Kallus waited a long moment for Zeb to continue.</p><p>When the Lasat didn't he prompted anxiously, "And?"</p><p>Zeb shrugged. "I dunno, he backed off. Stopped making obvious passes at her." He brushed something off his arm. "I just figured he'd gotten over it."</p><p>"Oh he's definitely not over it," Kallus grumbled, giving a sarcastic skyward sideglance. "He looks at that girl like she's his sun, moon, and stars." He shook his head, muttering. "Can't be without her for a minute."</p><p>That prompted Zeb to make a face and reminisce. "Ugh, he was <em>obnoxious</em> when Sabine left to help her family on Krownest. 'When is Sabine coming back? Zeb, I miss Sabine. Let me have a turn at the long-range transmitter so I can call <em>Sabine</em>.'" he said in a whining imitation of the boy.</p><p>Kallus stared at his friend incredulously. "And that doesn't ping as a slight step beyond friendship to you?" he pressed.</p><p>"I mean... maybe..."</p><p>Zeb was now looking off uncomfortably, his mouth flat like he was holding in a comment.</p><p>Kallus narrowed his eyes. "There's something else, isn't there?" he said. "What do you know?"</p><p>"Well..." Zeb scuffed his toe into the paved stones beneath his feet. "They share a bunk at night sometimes."</p><p>The other man's mouth popped open. "They <em>what?!</em>" he blurted in disbelief, eyes wide.</p><p>"Ezra gets nightmares, it helps," Zeb rushed to justify the two, perhaps a little too quickly. He crossed his arms grouchily. "I've done it with 'im too, it's not <em>weird</em>," he defended.</p><p>Kallus sputtered indignantly. "You just—! But—! They—!"</p><p>Zeb relaxed a bit out of his defensive posture, rethinking himself. "All right," he allowed. "He only let me do it once and he <em>vastly</em> prefers Sabine and <em>she's</em> awful skittish about people knowing she does it. So maybe they <em>are</em> a little more affectionate than is probably normal." He grunted. "Still don't see how it's any of <em>your</em> business."</p><p>"You aren't the <em>slightest</em> bit curious?" Kallus asked, still incredulous, expression crumpling.</p><p>Zeb shrugged. "If they're in love or not, I'm sure they'll figure it out. They don't need <em>my</em> help." The hint of a grin snaked its way back onto his face. "'sides, if you're so curious why doncha just, you know... <em>ask them?</em>"</p><p>"I did," Kallus grumbled. "Sabine just about nearly bit my head off."</p><p>The grin was wider now, and Zeb uncrossed his arms. "Then I'd say you're outta luck mate," he commented lightly.</p><p>"You're not going to help me settle this dilemma at all, are you?" Kallus groaned wearily, a palm pressing to his temple.</p><p>"<em>You're</em> the former intelligence agent," Zeb pointed out. He swept up his data pad from the cargo stack and scrolled down it, busying himself with whatever work he had to complete on the device. "Listen, my advice? Don't worry yerself about it. I'm sure they'll work out whatever feelings they may or may not have for each other on their own."</p><p>Kallus put his hands down, speaking stiffly. "Thank you, Garazeb, this was a very productive conversation," he droned in a sarcastic wither.</p><p>Zeb shot him a cheeky look and a mock salute. "Happy t' be of service!" he chipped.</p><p>Defeated, Kallus trudged back across the landing platform, the bustle of the Rebel base like so much background white noise in his ears, vowing to bury himself in enough paperwork to maybe drown out his circular fixation on the exact nature of Ezra and Sabine's relationship for a few more merciful hours.</p><p>His brain was trying to kill him with this, he just knew it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, your chapter notes. Brief ones, I don't really have much to say this round.</p><p>1. I never realized how much I needed Sabezra-Shipper-On-Deck!Kallus until I started writing him. I like him, he's hilarious, I'm keeping him around.</p><p>2. Zeb is, of course, no help whatsoever. Lol.</p><p>3. This will have a payoff, I promise. I am in fact setting up for a punchline. In the meantime, please enjoy Kallus being consternated by the ambiguous nature of Ezra and Sabine's relationship. I'm sure he embodies many of you very patient shippers, lol.</p><p>Next week we're going to Mandalore to see Sabine's parents! And start the altered Season Four events, officially. Yay!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Buried Sins</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sabine's past comes back to haunt her.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Took a week off for Christmas (and because I didn't have the chapter finished) but I'm back again dear readers. Going to be honest, the update schedule might be more every other week than every week; as I've mentioned I don't have much of this installment already pre-written. I <i>do</i> have an outline now though, and bulleted plot points, so I'm optimistic that the updates will still be pretty regular.</p><p>This is going to be the first of a couple rewritten Season Four episodes. I won't hit all of them, because that would be redundant and this is an altered timeline anyway, but I did want to explore certain plot points from the Mirrorverse's AU lens. Hope you guys enjoy!</p><p>Warnings for flashbacks and some PTSD anxiety.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alrich Wren stepped calmly across the way towards his waiting wife. The burning tower of the Imperial outpost plumed out smoke behind him, the bickering voices of other Mandalorians and Rebels in the background of his hearing.</p><p>Ursa gave a smile, tired but affectionate, and reached for his hands as he reached for hers.</p><p>"Darling Ursa," he sighed, relief tingling in his voice. "I thought I'd never see you again."</p><p>"I feared the same," she told him, wrapping her fingers around his. "But thanks to our daughter and her Rebel friends, I finally have you back," she said with fondness.</p><p>"Ah yes, I saw them in action." Alrich glanced back at the motley crew. Two Jedi, a Lasat, a Twi'lek woman, and a very cranky-sounding C1 droid hovered close to his daughter. A rather odd collection, to be sure. But they had made amazingly short work of the garrison, the younger Jedi boy personally taking out the half-dozen guards outside Alrich's cell in less than a minute by himself. "Remarkable people," he complimented. He looked back to Ursa with excitement. "Are they staying?" he asked eagerly. "I imagine they could do some damage to the Imperial presence here."</p><p>"I imagine they could," Ursa laughed. Sobering, she shook her head. "No, apparently this is just a last hurrah before they return to Lothal, to rejoin the Rebel cell operating <em>there</em>," she relayed with some disappointment.</p><p>"Lothal?" Alrich repeated, confused.</p><p>She nodded towards the younger Jedi. "Bridger's home planet. Grand Admiral Thrawn has an ongoing project there."</p><p>"I see." His estimation of them went up a few more notches. Thrawn was not a party to be trifled lightly with. "Well, they are quite skilled and brave—especially young Bridger there—" he commented, "—so I'm sure they'll cause the Grand Admiral a very <em>lovely </em>large headache," he quipped, mirth bubbling under his expression.</p><p>Ursa gave a sudden tired sigh. Her shoulders slouched beneath their pauldrons. "I'm glad you like him," she grumbled. "Bridger, I mean. Because we have a problem," she said.</p><p>Alrich titled his head at her for clarification. "Hmm?"</p><p>A sardonic smile wrung her mouth, her gaze long-suffering. "Our <em>daughter </em>is in <em>love </em>with him," she relayed wearily.</p><p>"Oh?" Alrich blinked in surprise, glancing over at the two. He scrunched his brows, studying them, confused and doubtful. "He seemed to think they were just friends," he said, remembering back to his first interaction with the boy.</p><p>Bridger had just finished dispatching the guards and Alrich had asked him, rather reasonably, having seen a particularly colorful explosion off down the hallway, "Are you with Sabine?"</p><p>"Yeah I'm with her!" was the automatic answer, but then, apparently misunderstanding, the boy had verbally backtracked, gawping a little under his painted Scout Trooper helmet. "I mean—I'm not <em>with her</em> with her I'm just friends... with her," he'd rushed to clarify. Evidently not finished digging, he'd continued with a very nervous and shrill, "Not that I haven't thought about it or that she wouldn't be a great catch or anything just—! I—I mean—"</p><p>At that point he'd broken off into stammering and it took a teasing comment from Tristan to snap him out of it.</p><p>"You'd better <em>not</em> have been thinking about it," Tristan had laughed. "'cause if you have I might need to honor duel you."</p><p>"What <em>is</em> it with you Mandalorians and wanting to fight all the time?!" Bridger had complained.</p><p>Alrich was pulled out of his memory as Ursa gave a snort.</p><p>"I wish she'd tell <em>him</em> that," she complained. Conspiratorially, she leaned in, checking to the side once to make sure Sabine wasn't listening in. "You know I asked her to come back home to help with the uprising, practically begged her, and do you know what she said?" She rolled her eyes upwards. "She said she couldn't because, and I quote, 'he's <em>important</em> to me'," she drawled witheringly.</p><p>A grin pulled at her husband's mouth. "Scandalous," he chuckled.</p><p>Ursa's face pinched in dismay. "Alrich, be serious," she begged.</p><p>"He seems a nice enough boy, Ursa, and he <em>did</em> help free me from that Imperial prison." The man shrugged nonchalantly. "If Sabine fancies him I have no real objections."</p><p>"He's a <em>Jedi!</em>" Ursa protested.</p><p>His eyes were suddenly serious. "These are strange times. Full of unlikely alliances. Former Separatists and Republic senators. Defectors and guerrilla fighters." He shook his head soberly. "The Jedi are not our enemy anymore, my dear." He stared off towards the boy and the older Jedi Master, as if seeing some kind of serene light around them. "They may, in fact, be our best hope against the Empire."</p><p>The frown Ursa wore was severely skeptical, but she just crossed her arms and said, "I hope the other clans see it that way."</p><p>A sudden commotion from the doorway of the garrison had both of them turning around, and Ursa's hackles raised protectively as a furious member of Clan Kryze lurched from the opening and across the plain, spitting curses at her daughter.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Ezra stepped in front of Sabine, his saber igniting, but Tristan was already handling it, chasing after the man, grabbing him under his arms and holding him back.</p><p>"Traitor!" the Nite Owl yelled, wrestling against the hold. "You shame us all!"</p><p>The <em>Ghost</em> crew silently closed ranks behind a bewildered Sabine, who stood frozen in place as Bo-Katan and Fenn Rau and the others approached, drawn by the shouting.</p><p>"What's the meaning of this?" Bo-Katan asked of her subordinate.</p><p>"Ask her," he snarled, "about the <em>abomination</em> she created!"</p><p>Sabine was starting to turn pale. Hera placed a hand on her shoulder, quietly supportive, as Bo-Katan turned her gaze on the young Mandalorian.</p><p>"What is he talking about?" she demanded.</p><p>Sabine's eyes flicked towards Tristan.</p><p>He strained to keep the older man back. "We stumbled across some transmissions," he grunted. "Up in the main room. Sabine... your class project, the weapon you created back in the Imperial Academy... they rebuilt it."</p><p>Her eyes widened in horror, her face open in bald shock. "No..." she gasped. "No no no, it's not <em>possible!</em>" she cried in distress. She shook her head in denial. "I destroyed it! I smashed the prototype, I erased all my notes, all the data, the blueprints, the backups, everything!" she wailed.</p><p>"Well, they managed to recover enough fragments somehow," Tristan told her, finally forced to let go of the other man, who stormed off to Bo-Katan's side, mollified enough for now not to immediately attack his sister. Tristan brushed off his left arm. "It's not as powerful as the one you built. But it's bad enough," he told her grimly.</p><p>Bo-Katan stepped closer, her Nite Owls behind her still radiating hostility and suspicion.</p><p>"What weapon?" the woman demanded again. She gripped the rim of her helmet tightly, frowning with contained anger. "Explain."</p><p>Ezra exchanged a look of concern with Fenn Rau, as Kanan's lips pursed. Though all of them had been present when Sabine had confessed why she'd fled the Imperial Academy, they still only knew surface details about the weapon itself.</p><p>Sabine's expression was agonized as she hid her face, curling fingers up against her scalp. "It... it targets beskar." Her voice was small, clogged with guilt. "Conducts electricity through the metal, superheating it." She choked on her words, pressing palms over her eyes. "Cooks the wearer inside."</p><p>Ezra winced. Bo-Katan's face was flush with horror and the Nite Owls erupted anew with outrage and betrayal and fear, hurling furious Mando'a at Sabine, fingers twitching on their weapons.</p><p>Even Zeb looked horrified, looking at Sabine with wide eyes.</p><p>"Why would you <em>make</em> something like that?" he gasped.</p><p>"I didn't know!" Sabine burst out, raising her head. Tears glistened in her eyes. "I didn't know they were going to use it!" Her breath hitched between her words. "That they wanted to build it for real!" She took a shuddering breath, calming herself somewhat. "It was a challenge, and I was arrogant." She shook her head. "And then they tested it on people. <em>My people.</em> On Clan Wren. And I <em>had </em>to put a stop to it."</p><p>She put her hands down, facing Bo-Katan seriously, her back straight.</p><p>"I swear, I thought it was over long ago," she said. She trembled slightly, her voice shaking.</p><p>The other woman was frowning flatly, brows narrowed.</p><p>"<em>Apparently</em>, it's not."</p><p>That made all three groups tense. Ursa's hand strayed to her blaster holster and Ezra raised his saber a fraction higher, taking an unconscious step between the Nite Owls and Sabine.</p><p>Bo-Katan suddenly alerted to something, turning her head.</p><p>A moment later, they all heard it—the droning buzz of ships approaching. Peering up at the sky, they could catch a glimpse of TIE fighters making their approach.</p><p>The tension dissipated, refocusing as their common enemy appeared. Bo-Katan flipped her helmet on, tapping a button on her communicator to signal her waiting pilots to bring the gauntlet.</p><p>"This discussion is going to have to wait," she determined.</p><p>They all silently agreed, quickly gearing up and dispersing to their own escape vessels as the Empire's forces drew nearer.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>There were so many things already swirling around inside her head—the upcoming infiltration of Tiber Saxon's Star Destroyer, not letting her guilt about the weapon she'd created cripple her, exactly why her father and her brother seemed to be weirdly amused every time they saw her talking to Ezra—that Sabine almost groaned when her mother caught her elbow and pulled her aside, ten minutes out from the start of their mission.</p><p>"May I speak with you a moment, dear?" she asked.</p><p>Sabine smothered down her exasperation. "Can it wait?" she begged. "We're gonna hit Sundari's no fly zone any minute now."</p><p>"Yes and I have some... concerns about the mission," Ursa told her.</p><p>She wouldn't meet Sabine's eyes, looking away evasively, and a prickle of irritation crept up the girl's back.</p><p>"Getting to the data core is our best chance of both finding out where they're keeping the Dutchess quickly <em>and </em>erasing all the data the Empire has on it," she immediately argued. "We can't spend too much time wandering around the Destroyer looking for it."</p><p>"I agree," her mother said, to Sabine's surprise. "But are you sure your friends are... up to the task?"</p><p>Sabine stared in confusion for a moment. Her mother had seen the <em>Ghost</em> crew in action, hadn't she?</p><p>A simmering realization hit her and she felt anger curdle at the bottom of her heart.</p><p>"You mean, is <em>Ezra </em>up to the task?"</p><p>Ursa's expression didn't change. "I've seen the way he flinches away from things," she said bluntly. "Startles at noises. Drifts off inside his own head." She leaned back, coolly, arms folded across her chest. "And don't think I didn't notice how he hesitated before following Bo-Katan out to deal with the TIEs."</p><p>Sabine's hackles raised defensively. "What's your point?" she grumbled, now wishing she hadn't mentioned Ezra's troubles with Imperial facilities to her mother.</p><p>"Armor that's cracked is useless in battle, Sabine. To actively avoid a fight... some might call that cowardice."</p><p>She almost sputtered.</p><p>"Ezra's <em>not</em> a coward!" she snapped, clenching her fists by her sides furiously. "How could you say that?! Do you even know what he's <em>been through?!</em>"</p><p>To her credit, Ursa grimaced uncomfortably, apologetically. "I'm not saying he's a coward. I know how resilient he is," she backtracked. "But the other clans... they won't see it that way." Her eyes were somber, expression stone and serious. "They'll see his trauma as weakness."</p><p>"Ezra is the strongest person I know," Sabine countered hotly. "I don't care what the other clans think. He fought Maul, and <em>won!</em>"</p><p>"That <em>would</em> be impressive," interjected a new voice. Both women turned aside to see Bo-Katan approaching. "If it were true," she diminished with some skepticism.</p><p>Sabine softened. "He doesn't have any reason to lie," she said quietly. "He wouldn't have still been on Ilum for us to find if he'd lost." One hand drifted up to clutch her elbow, as she stemmed the dark thoughts on the edge of her mind, the thousand alternate scenarios that could have happened if Ezra had not won his freedom. "Maul would have taken him somewhere else."</p><p>She chuckled suddenly.</p><p>"Heh. He almost has a legitimate claim to the darksaber," she realized.</p><p>Ursa gave an aggravated sigh. "Sabine, the cultural symbol of the Mand'alor's right to rule is <em>not</em> going to go to a Jedi."</p><p>"Why not? It was stolen from the Jedi in the first place," Sabine snarked flatly.</p><p>Bo-Katan's eyes stole towards it, where it hung from Sabine's belt, her face pinched with sorrow. "That sword killed my sister," she said. "Threw Mandalore into chaos, time and time again. It's a symbol of death and upheaval." She turned away with a heavy look. "Maybe it's better if it stays buried."</p><p>The regret in the woman's words made Sabine suspicious that her dismissal of the darksaber, and what it symbolized, had more to do with her personal guilt than what she actually believed about the saber. Sabine gripped the hilt, unhooking it and looking down at the blade in contemplation.</p><p>"Or maybe this is a chance to change its meaning," she mused. She looked up at Bo-Katan and held out the darksaber, offering it to her. "To change Mandalore for the better," she suggested earnestly.</p><p>Pain flashed across Bo-Katan's face, just for a fleeting moment. "My sister tried that," she said thickly. "But I was too stubborn—we were <em>all</em> too stubborn, too set in our archaic, dogmatic ways—to see what she was trying to do, how she was trying to unite us and stop the constant infighting." Her chin dropped, shame falling across her features. "I helped lead the uprising that got my sister murdered." She shook her head, angling away from Sabine now. "I cannot unite the clans. I am not the leader you seek."</p><p>Sabine lowered her hand in disappointment as Bo-Katan walked away.</p><p>Awkward silence reigned between her and her mother, until a chime from the front of the ship broke both of them out of their thoughts.</p><p>Sabine raised her head, looking up the hallway towards the cockpit. "Coming up on Sundari." She glanced at her mother briefly. "I should gear up."</p><p>"Good luck," her mother told her, genuine concern on her face. "And, Sabine?"</p><p>The girl looked back at her.</p><p>Her eyes were unexpectedly soft. "Take care of that boy," she implored. "He's very sweet, and I would hate for something to happen to him."</p><p>She stared at her mother in confusion and disbelief. "You just spent the past three minutes complaining about him and implying he was a coward," she pointed out.</p><p>Ursa shrugged. "I have to be hard on all my daughter's prospects."</p><p>Sabine's throat strangled at the implication and she cleared it with a loud cough, quickly looking off. She was not even touching that. "I'm gonna go destroy my weapon now," she said, over-casually. "I'll see you later."</p><p>She clipped the darksaber back on her belt, letting its weight rest against her hip again. It felt heavy, like gravity was pulling down on it more than usual, and Sabine was keenly aware of its burden.</p><p>She shook her head, refocusing her thoughts.</p><p><em>Just get through with this mission, </em>she told herself.</p><p>She re-went over the plan as she joined the others near the gauntlet's exit hatch.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>"Chopper, hurry up!" Sabine hissed. "The longer this takes the more Stormtroopers we're going to have to deal with!"</p><p>He spat a surly series of blorts at her, claiming to be working as fast as he could.</p><p>Kanan, Ezra, Fenn Rau, and Tristan stayed tensed around her, arranged in a loose circle around the data consoles in the middle of the room. Nite Owls and Clan Wren members watched the doorways and waited, with held breath, keening for any sign of Stormtroopers. After a harried but brief firefight in the hanger, the infiltration team had made it straight to the data core with few complications. But it wouldn't be long before reinforcements arrived, even with Zeb's team set to come harass the Star Destroyer with the Fang fighters as a distraction.</p><p>Sabine danced on the balls of her heels, anxious.</p><p>Chopper drew their attention by announcing he'd found the weapon. He brought up a wireframe holomap.</p><p>She studied it for a couple moments.</p><p>"Okay, well, good news is that it's not far," she said.</p><p>"Bad news?" Tristan prompted, looking over his shoulder from where he stood with both blasters pointed at the door.</p><p>"It's back in the hanger we just left," she relayed.</p><p>"Well that's not <em>so </em>bad," Ezra quipped lightly. "We can just hit it on our way out."</p><p>She felt a smile flickering at his earnest optimism. All-serious now, she spoke authoritatively to the group. "All right, Rau, Tristan, Milady—" she addressed, nodding in particular to Bo-Katan, "—clear a path for us. Chopper, make sure you delete <em>everything</em> in that data core. Kanan will cover you."</p><p><em>"WHOMP," </em>Chopper confirmed with a salute, already beginning to scrub the drives.</p><p>"Ezra?"</p><p>Something stuttered in her heart when he looked at her. Sabine swallowed dryly, pushing away whatever it was she felt.</p><p>"Be my vanguard up to that hanger office?" she said.</p><p>"Uh... okay," he said, looking confused. "You sure you don't want me here to make sure Chopper does his part?"</p><p>Chopper blew a binary raspberry.</p><p>Sabine's mouth twisted a bit, grimly. "I need to prove something to my mother," she told him sardonically. Grabbing his wrist she pulled him along towards the exit. "Come on."</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>When Sabine went down, arcs of electricity from the Dutchess flowing over her, piercing through her beskar armor, Ezra's mind whited out for a second.</p><p><em>Searing pain as sparks tore through him, burning liquid in his veins, Thrawn's red eyes peeking out from darkness up above</em>—</p><p>"Ezra!"</p><p>Sabine's shout brought him suddenly back to the present. He gasped sharply, his wide eyes meeting hers.</p><p>Through the pain she must've been feeling, with how her body was curled up, clutching herself, she set her expression fiercely, determined and resolute.</p><p>"Destroy it!" she shouted.</p><p>He spurred into action, lunging, his lightsaber slashing a wide green arc across the center of the device.</p><p>It stilled, its whine slowing, the electricity it was shooting off dimming into nothing.</p><p>Ezra didn't realize he was shaking until Sabine's steadying hands were on his arm.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>A scalding inner voice berated her as Sabine staggered up to her feet, stumbling towards where Ezra was frozen, still staring with open eyes at the Dutchess's core, which mercifully was no longer throwing off electricity, at least for the moment.</p><p>His lightsaber was gripped tightly in his hand, his knuckles white, his breathing strained and shallow, he was stuck somewhere between the past and the present and it was <em>all her fault</em>, she shouldn't have brought him up here, she shouldn't have made him come, she should have known they would turn it on and—</p><p>She pulled at his arm, trying to draw him out from his unresponsive state.</p><p>"Hey," she called frantically, breathless still from the shocks. She reached around, taking hold of both his shoulders, staring into his face with concern. "You with me?"</p><p>He shook himself, coming out of his daze, his eyes pinching closed and face screwing in concentration.</p><p>"Yeah," he said. "Yeah just... gimme a minute." He took a deep breath, steadying himself.</p><p>"We don't have one," she told him grimly, looking first towards the broken Dutchess, now beginning to heat up due to the core breach Ezra's lightsaber had inflicted on it, then back towards the door opposite them, where Tiber Saxon was swaggering in with a Supercommando flanked behind him.</p><p>The smug look dropped almost instantly off the man's face, replaced by shock as he registered the two teenagers in front of Sabine's destroyed creation.</p><p>Sabine didn't give him any more time to react, pushing Ezra behind her and whipping out both blasters, firing off a warning shot just shy of Tiber's ear.</p><p>He yelped, yanking back behind the lip of the doorway.</p><p>Blaster shots were hurled back at her as the Supercommando opened fire. Sabine felt one whiz past her cheek and flinched, but Ezra raised his saber, stepping forward to take point again and block the bolts, forcing the Supercommando back in retreat.</p><p>Tiber had recovered now, his own blaster in hand.</p><p>"What have you <em>done?!</em>" he screamed in outrage.</p><p>Sabine glared icily at him. "I made things right," she said.</p><p>His fingers tightened on the trigger but then a shot from behind them hit his shoulder, in the joint between his neck and chest, spinning him sideways into the wall before he collapsed down with a groan.</p><p>Both teens looked back to see Bo-Katan on the lift, blasters raised.</p><p>She moved forward into the room, checking the corners. "Everything all right?" she checked.</p><p>"We're okay," Ezra replied, before Sabine could say anything. The boy tilted his head towards the whining core, which was pitching shriller as it destabilized further. "But I think <em>that </em>might explode."</p><p>Bo-Katan gave a short sound like an amused snort. "Let's not stay to find out," she said, lowering her blasters, urging the two back towards the lift with a swift jerk of her helmet.</p><p>Ezra was all too eager to leave, stepping onto the lowering platform at once. Sabine strained after his expression, but he'd put his helmet down and his eyes were hidden behind the dark visors.</p><p>With a bit of defeat she grabbed up her own helmet, joining Ezra and Bo-Katan on the lift and hoping he was okay, hoping he could forgive her for her idiocy and stubborn pride.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>
  <em>Emotion, yet peace.</em>
</p><p>Ezra repeated the words to himself, his arms crossed tightly as he stood by the wall in the gauntlet's cockpit, clutching his elbows.</p><p>
  <em>Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity.</em>
</p><p>Careful breath in, careful breath out. Focus only on the moment.</p><p>
  <em>The Force is with me. I am not alone.</em>
</p><p>A low rumble from outside the ship had him opening up his eyes, looking out the window to see Tiber's Star Destroyer go up in a glorious orange conflagration, dropping towards the ground in broken, burning pieces.</p><p>He smiled, tension unwinding a bit as whoops from the others filled his ears. He closed his eyes again, leaning his head back against the bulkhead, concentrating on keeping the static inside his head quiet, letting it dissipate with every slow breath.</p><p>He was still shaking a little. Ezra's jaw pinched as he willed his vibrating limbs to still.</p><p>He hadn't had this strong a panic reaction since... well, since Maul had triggered one.</p><p>His kidnapper's image replaced the vague fragments of the <em>Chimaera</em> that danced threateningly on the edge of his thoughts and Ezra shivered, remembering hands clutched bruisingly over his mouth, nails digging in his hair, pinching invisible tightness around his throat, the crushing pressure of his fear like iron blocks around his lungs...</p><p>Ezra felt his breaths shorten and shook his head harshly, banishing that trail of thoughts, deliberately forcing himself out of his memories, his pulse kicking up anxiously.</p><p><em>He's dead</em>, he reminded himself. <em>He's gone.</em></p><p>That truth seemed to anchor him, allowing him to recenter himself, refocus his mind back on the next breath, and then the next. His racing thoughts began to slow back down.</p><p>He struggled for longer than he was happy with.</p><p>
  <em>Chaos, yet harmony.</em>
</p><p>If ever there was a portion of the mantra he related to, he thought, that was it.</p><p>He let the Force fill him, opening himself up wide, letting its harmony melt away the chaos of emotions inside him until the echoes finally, <em>finally</em> faded and his trembling finally stopped.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Dozens of Mandalorians from multiple clans were waiting for them at the bottom of the ramp, but there was only one person Sabine wanted to see. She quietly pushed past Bo-Katan as the woman talked with various clan representatives, all pledging to stand with her against the Empire.</p><p>Anxious eyes searched the crowd and then she found him, grinning as he talked with Zeb.</p><p>Sabine breathed out in relief, shoulders untensing, moving to join them.</p><p>"Those Fang fighter cockpits are even more cramped than the X-wings!" Zeb was complaining.</p><p>"Don't worry, big guy," Ezra teased, punching a playful fist into Zeb's side. "We'll get you a nice roomy ship of your own one of these days."</p><p>He half-heartedly shoved back. "Hey, watch it!" he said. "That's the side I took a lightsaber to."</p><p>Ezra glanced over, noticing Sabine's approach, and nodded once at Zeb before turning and trotting up to meet her halfway.</p><p>Sabine stopped first, her smile strained and somber.</p><p>Ezra practically <em>glowed</em> as he reached her. "You did it, Sabine," he told her, eyes shining with admiration.</p><p>She glanced down with a flush and a slight stab of guilt. "You did most of the work," she dismissed. "All of it, actually." Taking a deep breath, she let the smile drop off her face and raised her eyes to look at him seriously. "Listen, about what happened up in that hanger office..." she began.</p><p>The light in his eyes dimmed a little.</p><p>Sabine bit the inside of her lip as shame and remorse echoed through her.</p><p>"I'm sorry," she told him softly. "I never meant to put you through that."</p><p>He shrugged, looking off. "It's not your fault," he said.</p><p>It <em>was</em>, and he was making this apology very difficult. A few notes of frustration crept into Sabine's voice as she went on.</p><p>"I knew how the Dutchess worked; I knew what it would look like, sound like," she argued.</p><p>"<em>You</em> didn't turn it on," Ezra countered.</p><p>"But I should have—"</p><p>"I'm <em>okay, </em>Sabine," he said, interrupting her protest. "I am, I promise. Yeah, I was shaken up," he admitted with a head tilt. "Okay? It's not anything I haven't dealt with before." He folded his hands around his arms, quietly, self-protectively. "It's just... how things are now," he mumbled.</p><p>He was quiet for a long moment, and Sabine worried he might drift off. But then he turned back to her and his eyes were meltingly warm.</p><p>"I'm just glad <em>you're </em>not hurt," he told her, genuinely.</p><p>She huffed a bit, marveling at him. <em>He</em> was the one who'd been hurt and here he was comforting <em>her</em>. <em>That's a Jedi for you</em>, she thought.</p><p>"What can I say? I'm hard-shelled," she joked, tapping her armor.</p><p>Growing serious, her fingers brushed across the hilt at her waist. The smooth metal felt almost soft, and it could have been her imagination but she almost thought she heard the crystal inside it humming, whispering a velvet song to her.</p><p>"I've... been thinking about it a lot and..."</p><p>Her fingers clasped the sword, unhooking it from her belt. She took a deep breath and held it out to him.</p><p>"This belongs to you."</p><p>Ezra looked... <em>very </em>confused, glancing down at the darksaber with scrunched eyes. "Uh... I'm not... What?" he fumbled.</p><p>"You dueled Maul and won," she explained patiently. "You have as much claim to it as anyone."</p><p>"Yeah but I didn't..." He struggled for words a moment, still looking bewildered. "...<em>win</em> the saber <em>from</em> him, isn't that sort of a requirement?"</p><p>"Ezra, take the saber," Sabine groaned. "The whole line of succession is already screwed up anyway."</p><p>"And isn't that the emblem of the rightful ruler of Mandalore?" he pressed, voice growing more confident. "Like, whoever holds the sword sits on the throne? Don't you still need that thing to unite the clans or something?" He was cringing, looking past her at the crowd of Mandos. "Pretty sure you're gonna piss a lot of people off if you just pass that off on me."</p><p>He had a point, but now Sabine was in too deep and digging her heels in deeper out of sheer stubborness. "It belongs with the Jedi," she insisted, jabbing it towards him. "It's yours."</p><p>Ezra glanced around anxiously, as if someone could magically appear at his side to rescue him from this argument. "Sabine I don't... I don't wanna rule Mandalore isn't there someone else who can...?" He trailed off, struggling for words. "Bo-Katan, maybe?" he suggested.</p><p>"She doesn't want it," Sabine dismissed. She glanced back over her shoulder, mouth quirking into a smile as she watched Mandalorians bowing to the woman, showing reverence. "And it doesn't look like she needs it to unite the clans," she quipped. "So you don't need to worry about ruling Mandalore."</p><p>"Yeah but—"</p><p>"<em>Ezra</em>," she cut him off. She met his eyes with a searing determination, gaze like steel. "I <em>want</em> you to take it. It doesn't feel right in anyone else's hands but yours." Her chest clenched a bit at her words, some strange anxiety moving through her, tightening her throat.</p><p>Wide blue eyes gazed softly back at her. "Sabine..." he breathed, his voice full of emotion. He raised his hand and for a second she thought—</p><p>But then he turned his palm up and gently pushed the saber away.</p><p>"I can't accept this," he told her, shaking his head. "I would never want to drive a wedge between you and your people, and if I take that saber, I would." His voice softened, dropping quieter, as he nudged the saber back towards her. "You keep it," he urged.</p><p>His hand lingered by hers on the hilt for a moment.</p><p>Sabine smothered down her disappointment as he pulled back. Indignation rose in her instead.</p><p>"What am <em>I</em> supposed to do with it?!" she demanded hotly, using it to gesture in agitation.</p><p>"I dunno," Ezra shrugged. He shot back a cheeky grin as he walked off, looking to rejoin Zeb. "Maybe <em>you</em> should rule Mandalore," he suggested.</p><p>Sabine steamed with several half-formed retorts jostling inside her head that she wound up not even sputtering out as she watched him leave, feeling like she wanted to scream. Why wouldn't anyone just take the damn sword?!</p><p>"That's not a half-bad idea," Tristan put in as he came up next to her. He had a grin that threatened to crack through his stoic facade. "I could get used to being royalty."</p><p>She just growled low in her throat in wordless frustration.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, your helpful chapter notes!</p><p>1. We rescue Alrich at the Imperial outpost this time. And naturally he's pretty quick to warm to the idea of a Jedi son-in-law. (Ursa might require some convincing lol.) Come on you <i>all</i> know he would absolutely <i>adore</i> Ezra.</p><p>2. The exchange with Ursa about Ezra's PTSD actually stems from/was inspired by a conversation I had about my Bad End offshoot oneshot "Broken Shards". Because how <i>does</i> a warrior culture that values prowess in battle and the ability to kill deal with that kind of thing? Do they look down on those with combat-related trauma or would they accept it as something that can happen even to the strongest of people? And how much more would they disparage someone who <i>wasn't</i> hurt in battle? They were all fascinating questions to think about and I wanted to explore it just a little in this chapter.</p><p>3. I think it was user Avalon who commented that they wanted to see Sabine accidentally triggering Ezra and the angst that would fallout from that. I hadn't exactly intended to write that in but in the course of deciding how to alter the events of this episode it wound up happening anyway. I hope it is to your liking.</p><p>4. That feel when your Not-Girlfriend basically proposes to you and you, like an idiot, Do Not Get It. Lol.</p><p>5. Yeah so Sabine's basically stuck with the darksaber in this timeline. With how I wrote Bo-Katan and altered the office confrontation I realized she wouldn't get over her guilt and self-blame enough to accept the saber from Sabine, as the main 'push' and motivation for her to do so (talking Sabine down from taking revenge) had been removed. And of course Ezra doesn't want it because Mandalorians be crazy yo. XD So she's gotta hang onto it for now. I don't have any ideas for how her keeping it affects certain [SPOILERS REDACTED] in <i>The Mandalorian</i> nor do I have any plans of exploring it (this series is already long enough) so I will leave that speculation up to y'all's imagination.</p><p>6. Tristan totally makes an irreverent crack about Jedi concubines right after this scene that earns him a punch to the stomach.</p><p>We're heading briefly back to Lothal next chapter, to pick up on some plot threads from "Shatterpoint". Hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Close To Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hera has apprehensions about working with Saw Gerrera.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Posting this chapter a bit late but hey. (It was <i>mostly</i> done, I just had to tweak a few sentences and finish the last scene.) I actually had a lot of fun with this one. The talky bits were a bit of a struggle but once we were past that everything came smoothly. Anyway...</p><p>Picking up from where we left off last chapter, and continuing on with the trend of adjacent-to-the-actual-events-but-heavily-altered-because-AU modified Season Four episodes, here is part one of "In The Name Of The Rebellion". Hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Orange-tinted clouds drifted by the windows, but Hera didn't relax her grip on the controls until several long minutes had passed with nothing but the gentle sound of the <em>Ghost'</em>s engines in her ear cones.</p><p>She let out a soft breath, tension unwinding. Hitting the auto-pilot, she sat back, her hands loosing from the handles.</p><p>The plan had worked. They had made it to Lothal's atmosphere intact, smuggled in the belly of another starship, an arrangement provided by, of all people, Cikatro Vizago. They had left the cargo hold of the other ship the moment they were far enough past the blockade not to be detected, but Hera had stayed on alert for any sign of Imperial TIEs as they broke from their escort.</p><p>But the sky was quiet. The proximity alarms went unsounded.</p><p><em>Looks like we made it</em>, she thought with relief.</p><p>She heard steps behind her. Kanan felt his way into the cockpit, reaching out for the edge of her seat and using it to guide himself forward, standing behind her.</p><p>"Are you sure you should be piloting right now?" he asked. The hint of a grin played at his lips. "Given your condition?" he teased.</p><p>Hera's mouth quirked a smile. He knew full well the auto-pilot was on. "I'm fine," she told him. She turned in her seat a bit, to better face him. "I'm a little tired, and I have a monster craving for meilooruns, but otherwise, I'm okay." She tilted her head towards the door, her lekku swishing softly. "How's everyone back there doing?" she asked.</p><p>Kanan straightened a little bit, resting both hands on the backs of the pilot's and co-pilot's seats. "Kallus is complaining about the cramped quarters again."</p><p>"It's less cramped now without Mart and the others," Hera pointed out.</p><p>"I told him that," Kanan said. "And that just started him off on a rant again, about how they're <em>so</em> irresponsible and left their things all over the <em>Ghost</em> and won't stop comming him and leaving him messages," he recited.</p><p>Hera tried to hide a grin. "He misses them."</p><p>Kanan matched it. "I give it two days before he cracks and listens to all their messages," he joked.</p><p>Hera shifted in her seat, turning around so she was facing more towards the back of the ship. "And... how are Ezra and Sabine?" she asked, more seriously, folding hands together in her lap. "Did they sleep okay last night?"</p><p>She already knew they hadn't; Kanan had left her bed early in the morning and hadn't come back until well after the standard day had started, citing a need for caf and warm breakfasts.</p><p>Kanan shook his head in confirmation. "We were up the whole time talking. Nightmares."</p><p>"Both of them?"</p><p>He nodded. "Ezra's was about Maul again. Sabine..." He grimaced uncomfortably. "Well, she imagined her weapon disintegrating all of us."</p><p>Hera winced, a sympathetic twist of her features. She glanced back towards the doorway, her heart panging for her two young Spectres. Far too young to have faced the kind of horrors they had.</p><p>"She still blames herself for what happened on the Star Destroyer," Kanan was continuing. "Took both of us to convince her it wasn't her fault. We'll see if it takes."</p><p>A silence descended between them, heavy with thought and contemplation. The <em>Ghost</em>'s engines hummed quietly and the clouds drifted softly by the port.</p><p>"You think we made the right choice? Coming back to Lothal?" Hera asked, breaking the tension.</p><p>Kanan stirred, folding his arms across his chest. "I think you were right; it's what Ezra wanted." He shook his head. "I don't think he felt safe on Yavin anymore."</p><p>"Given that Maul found his way there I don't blame him," Hera sighed. The Alliance had implemented much tighter security procedures since Ezra's revelation that the ex-Sith had found them on Yavin, had been on-planet for some weeks waiting for a chance to strike, but all the added protocols couldn't rid Hera of a niggling creepy unease every time she looked out at the jungle. Even knowing Maul was dead couldn't shake the horror of knowing he had been there. Imperial-occupied Lothal, ironically, felt safer to her now. And she wasn't alone she knew. "He's seemed... happier. Since we told him our plans to return," she commented.</p><p>Kanan nodded. "He was ready to come home. Ready to finish the mission and liberate his people. And," he added, small smile growing on his face, "I <em>think</em> he's starting to get a little excited about being a big brother."</p><p>That made Hera smile in turn. "You think?"</p><p>"Won't stop asking questions about the baby," Kanan told her. "Wants to know <em>everything.</em> If we've picked out a name yet, how the genetics work with half-human hybrids..."</p><p>Hera chuckled. "That sounds like Ezra all right."</p><p>Kanan took a hesitant step forward, unfolding his arms, extending a palm out. "May I?" he asked, tilting his head, expression open, seeking permission.</p><p>Hera sat back in the chair, allowing him access, gently guiding his elbow. Kanan knelt down in front of her, placing both hands reverently on her still-flat stomach. Hera tingled at his touch, something inside her... <em>responding</em> to Kanan reaching out through the Force, his mental touch brushing up against her belly.</p><p>Kanan exhaled softly in wonder.</p><p>"He's like a warm little ember," he said.</p><p>A giddy feeling passed through her, an emotion like glowing daylight. Hera felt everything else fade away for a moment—the Rebellion, the Empire, the mission—leaving just the two of them, and the little spark Kanan could feel inside her.</p><p>The <em>Ghost</em>'s comm pinged, shattering the blissful moment. Kanan withdrew, and Hera swiveled her chair around with an irritated sigh.</p><p>Tapping a few buttons and checking the incoming frequency, she frowned.</p><p>"What does <em>he</em> want?" she muttered.</p><p>Kanan was about to ask who she was talking about, but he received his answer in the next moment; Hera opened the channel and Saw Gerrera's visage shimmered into existence from the holoprojector.</p><p><em>"Captain Syndulla," </em>he greeted, entirely too brightly; her suspicions raised almost immediately. <em>"Hope I'm not interrupting anything."</em></p><p>Hera's mouth and brows flattened and she sat back a little in her seat. "Not yet," she said, crossing her arms. "What do you want?"</p><p>
  <em>"I heard you broke from the Alliance."</em>
</p><p>"We're rejoining Ryder and the resistance on Lothal," Hera corrected. "We haven't severed ties with the Alliance."</p><p><em>"Are you afraid of open conflict, Syndulla?"</em> he asked. He chuckled low in his throat. <em>"Your actions on Mandalore say otherwise. The Partisans could use boldness like that."</em></p><p>"Hard pass," Kanan said behind her. He stood with crossed arms and guarded posture, stoic and unreadable. "Look, we're grateful for your help in finding Ezra, but we're <em>not</em> interested in joining the Partisans, Saw."</p><p><em>"Just hear me out, Master Jedi,"</em> Saw said. <em>"I have a mission that's right up your alley."</em> His eyes shifted back to Hera, piercing. <em>"And if you still want to help the Alliance, you'll want to listen."</em></p><p>Hera considered cautiously, then said, "Go on."</p><p>Saw flicked a switch on his end, and an additional holo sprang up. A large circular dish appeared, antenna pointed skywards.</p><p><em>"This,"</em> Saw explained, <em>"is an Imperial communications relay. It's located in the Jalindi system. It expands the Empire's ability to quickly pass along messages between its forces, allowing them to mobilize faster, and respond quicker to threats."</em></p><p>Hera frowned. All right, that <em>was</em> worrisome.</p><p><em>"It's lightly guarded. A couple squads at most. If you approach from high altitude,"</em> he was continuing,<em> "you shouldn't be detected."</em></p><p>"And you're suggesting... what? We blow it up?" Hera asked.</p><p>
  <em>"Well I'm sure Sabine wouldn't mind that."</em>
</p><p>Kanan's lips were pressing together in concern. "How did you get this intel?"</p><p>Saw's eyes hardened. <em>"That's not important," </em>he snapped. <em>"Are you in, or not?"</em></p><p>"I hope you have some way to get us <em>to</em> Jalindi," Hera said tersely, voice annoyed. "We <em>just </em>made it past Lothal's blockade," she pointed out. "It's not going to be easy getting back out."</p><p>
  <em>"Don't worry, I already thought of that."</em>
</p><p>The holoprojector switched images, now showing a cloistered cluster of familiar-looking Lothali stone mounds, and an Imperial shuttle tucked within.</p><p><em>"One of my operatives left this for you on the far side of Jhothal,"</em> Saw was explaining. <em>"It's already installed with a decoy transponder, and I've got Imperial access codes for you to give to those raptors hanging in the sky."</em></p><p>Hera studied the image, a wrinkle between her brows and her mouth pulled down flat. She thought for a long moment.</p><p>She stirred a bit.</p><p>"May I see the codes?" she asked.</p><p>Saw transmitted them.</p><p>Hera stared down at the string of binary, intensely scrutinizing them. It wasn't like she thought Saw would betray them, or intentionally give them bad codes... but she wondered how accurate the codes could be given that she couldn't be sure where—or <em>how</em>—Saw had gotten them.</p><p>She reached over on the dashboard, flipping the ship's internal comms.</p><p>"Kallus, can you come up to the cockpit for a moment?" she requested.</p><p>There was an immediate darkening behind Saw's eyes, and his face tightened defensively. Hera wasn't Force Sensitive, but she could still feel the radiating hostility in the man's glare.</p><p>Kallus's booted footsteps sounded down the hall and then he appeared in the doorway behind Kanan, tensing and freezing up a moment when he saw who was calling.</p><p>Hera beckoned him closer. "Can you take a look at these Imperial access codes for me?"</p><p>Kallus pushed past his unease, leaning in and taking a glance over Hera's shoulder, finger on the console. Saw's eyes stayed fixated on them the whole time, as if he thought Kallus would try to tamper with the codes if he wasn't watched like a hawk.</p><p>After a moment or two Kallus nodded and straightened back up.</p><p>"The codes are good," he confirmed. "Recent, and region-accurate." He sidled a glance towards Hera, the same unspoken question she had about their origin in his eyes that he didn't speak aloud, choosing rather to fade back behind her against the wall.</p><p>Saw fluffed up with pride. <em>"I told you, I've taken care of everything. All you have to do is show up and do the job."</em></p><p>"What's in this for you, Saw?" Kanan asked, a note of suspicion in his voice. "I didn't think you'd be so keen on helping the Alliance."</p><p>He chuckled, a hollow, humorless sound with little mirth. <em>"Oh I've already warned them about this, trust me." </em>He leaned back, crossing arms over his broad chest. <em>"Let's just say that communications relay is making my operations in the Outer Rim... difficult."</em></p><p>"I'm certain," Kallus muttered under his breath.</p><p>"And... why not blow it up yourself?" Kanan asked further, with a brief silencing glance back at Kallus. "Why do you need us?"</p><p><em>"I happen to like working with</em><em>—" </em>He shot an unfriendly look towards Kallus. <em>"</em><em>—most of you." </em>His chuckle was a bit more genuine this time as he continued, scratching idly at his arm. <em>"We made a good team on Geonosis." </em>He gave a casual shrug. <em>"Besides, while you're in the area I was actually hoping I could borrow your kids for another mission that</em><em>—"</em></p><p>"No," Hera interrupted him, ice in her voice.</p><p>Surprised, he began to protest. <em>"Captain Syndulla</em><em>—"</em></p><p>"Ezra has been through enough," she cut him off again. She sat straight back in her chair, arms folded. "I'm not even keen on bringing him along on <em>this</em> mission," she told him.</p><p>"We'll—" Kanan interjected, extending a placating hand towards Hera, "—let him decide that," he finished.</p><p>Her features stayed hard and flat, but she didn't argue against Kanan, merely staring him down quietly.</p><p>Saw took the concession almost gleefully. <em>"Excellent. Then I'll expect to see you within the next standard galactic day or so." </em>He tapped a few buttons unseen on his side. <em>"Oh, and, one condition before you decide to take the mission," </em>he said. Looking up he cast a cold look on Kallus, full of curdled dislike and anger. <em>"Leave the Imp behind."</em></p><p>Hera's hackles went up again. "Kallus is a member of this crew. Where we go, he goes," she argued.</p><p>Saw twitched forward, practically snarling. <em>"You're never going to get close enough to that relay in that decoy without my help. And I'm </em><em><strong>not </strong></em><em>working with him."</em></p><p>"Well you're going to have to get over—"</p><p>A hand on her shoulder interrupted her. "Hera," Kallus pleaded, eyes wrinkled. "It's fine. I'll just rendezvous with Ryder and the others."</p><p>Hera's hot temper swelled a moment, then simmered down. She settled for the compromise. Looking up, she told Saw, "I'll put the mission before my team and ping you with what we decide."</p><p>He stared back impassively, arms crossed.</p><p>
  <em>"Don't keep me waiting. Time is of the essence."</em>
</p><p>His image flickered out, snapping away without further fanfare. The cockpit was left quiet and still once more.</p><p>"Jerk," Hera muttered.</p><p>Kanan sighed. "Well, I'll get everyone together for a conference," he said, sounding tired.</p><p>He felt out for the doorframe, Kallus helpfully stepping aside and out of the way, and proceeded to make his way back down the hall.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Hera was already regretting even considering taking the mission when she saw everyone's faces, Ezra's and Sabine's turned up towards her eagerly, Zeb's hiding his excitement. Too bright. Too happy and unburdened. A sour taste curdled at the back of Hera's throat.</p><p>Nevertheless, she pushed past her discomfort and unease and focused on things at hand.</p><p>"I have a mission for us."</p><p>A stirring went around the room.</p><p>"'bout time," Zeb grunted. He punched a fist into his palm. "So what's the target? We hitting the factories first?" He couldn't suppress a grin.</p><p>Hera's lekku bounced softly as she shook her head. "It's not here on Lothal."</p><p>Another stirring. An offended blort from Chopper. Confusion and slight distress in Ezra's eyes.</p><p>"But we just got here!" Zeb whined.</p><p>"I know, and I'm sorry," she apologized, gaze heavy on Ezra in particular. She sent a look around the room at her gathered crew and then took a deep breath. "There's an Imperial communications relay that's been letting the Empire respond quicker to reported Rebel presence," she explained. "It's allowed them to lay traps, meet ships with heavy counterattacks, and generally impede our movement."</p><p>The crew absorbed that in sober silence, which she took as a positive sign.</p><p>"Saw's requested we go in and help him blow it up," she finished.</p><p>"What, you mean Saw Gerrera?" asked Zeb, for clarification.</p><p>"That's the man." She leaned back on one leg, crossing her arms, mimicking Kanan's position against the wall behind her. "Any questions?" she asked.</p><p>"Uh, yeah?" Sabine piped up at once, sounding heavily annoyed. "Why are we running <em>Saw's</em> errands?"</p><p>"I haven't accepted it yet," Hera corrected tersely. "I'm still thinking about it. I wanted to put it before all of you first."</p><p>Undeterred by Hera's attempt at a diplomatic answer, Sabine challenged, "Okay, then, why are we <em>thinking</em> about running Saw's errands?"</p><p>Hera flung her arms out in exasperation, face flustered. "I guess we're returning a favor!" she snapped.</p><p>"And <em>how</em> are we going to get past the blockade again?" Sabine demanded, pushing out of her seat in order to stand up.</p><p>"Saw's made arrangements," Kanan spoke up calmly.</p><p>Sabine's eyes narrowed with simmering irritation. "Of course he has," she said flatly. "You know, this is suspiciously <em>convenient</em> timing," she pointed out.</p><p>Hera couldn't argue there.</p><p>Sabine was cooling off a bit, but still had her arms crossed, looking suspiciously back at Hera. "Where is this relay anyway?"</p><p>She was already internally flinching as she said it. "The Jalindi system."</p><p>"But that's almost halfway back to Yavin!" It was Ezra who protested this time, his expression openly distressed and stinging with dismay.</p><p>Hera immediately crossed the room and took a knee in front of his seat, grabbing up his hand and squeezing it reassuringly.</p><p>"Ezra, you don't have to go on this one if you don't want to," she promised him softly, voice gentle. "I'm sure we can manage—"</p><p>"No," he interrupted her. His blue eyes were cold steel, angry and determined. "I'll do it," he said. "In."</p><p>Concerned, Hera pressed, "Ezra—"</p><p>"I'm <em>in, </em>Hera. I'm going," he insisted, a slight waver in his voice now. He couldn't stop his hands from creeping up into his hair, scratching against his scalp. His face was pinched for a long moment before he dropped his hands, exhaling breathlessly. "I <em>want</em> to do it," he told her.</p><p>"You're sure?" she checked.</p><p>"<em>Yes,</em>" he hissed, her question only seeming to further agitate him.</p><p>Hera studied him for a long moment, searching the lines on his face, seeing the fight in his eyes. She read his conviction, his stubbornness, his self-sufficient survivor's nature.</p><p>She backed down.</p><p>"All right," she said, getting back up to her feet. She paced back towards the center of the room, all business now as she addressed the rest of them. "Any other objections?"</p><p>Kallus raised a tentative hand.</p><p>"Captain Syndulla? Would it not benefit the Alliance more to install a spike in the relay?" he suggested. "That way the fleet could listen in on the Empire's broadcasts and move their ships around the Empire's accordingly."</p><p>"I hadn't considered that," Hera admitted. She put a hand to her chin, thinking it over. She could certainly see the merit of it. She raised her head, glancing around at everyone. "Well? What do you all think?"</p><p>Kanan was the first to answer, voice as calm and even as ever. "It's not a bad idea. We'd be turning the relay into an asset instead of a hindrance. If we blow it up the Empire will just build another one," he reasoned.</p><p>"But it'll <em>also </em>waste their time and resources, buy the Alliance breathing room," Ezra spoke up to argue. He squared a look at Hera. "I saw we blow it," he said.</p><p>"Yeah, I'm with him," Sabine agreed, tilting her head at him.</p><p><em>"WUB!"</em> Chopper added in support.</p><p>Hera's eyes flicked back towards Kallus.</p><p>Kallus grimaced. "I'm not sure I should have a vote, given that I'm apparently not allowed on the mission," he said.</p><p>Hera turned to Kanan.</p><p>He didn't stir from the wall. "I'll go with whatever the rest of you decide," he said.</p><p>"It's decided then," Zeb announced. He rose from his chair, cracking his knuckles sharply, the grin back on his face. "Let's go blow that relay," he crowed.</p><p>Hera nodded slowly, taking in her crew one last time.</p><p>She hoped she wasn't going to regret this.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Things were pulling off amazingly smoothly, all things considered.</p><p>They'd found the shuttle right where Saw had said it'd be, slipped through the blockade with nary an issue, and made it to Jalindi in relatively good time. Saw had complained about her approach to the mission, calling it overly-cautious and timid.</p><p><em>"We're treating this like a stealth mission, Captain?"</em> he'd asked condescendingly over the comms.</p><p>"Hey, if we were in the <em>Ghost</em> it'd be another matter," she'd sniped back. "But I'm not taking unnecessary risks in this burner you left us. This thing doesn't even have functional shields!"</p><p>That seemed to shut down the argument. Saw left them to scout for enemy fighter patrols, and Hera used the cloud clover to fly in close above the relay before sending Erza, Sabine, and Chopper out to land on the dish. The three of them made it down okay, and were probably now discussing where best to plant Sabine's detonators.</p><p>So why did her ear cones seem to be buzzing with agitation?</p><p>Hera's fingers tapped on her arm, restlessly. Her knee bounced as she watched the three blips on the sensor display that indicated where Ezra and Sabine and Chopper were. They had clustered near the base of the dish's antenna, comm-silent so as not to blow their cover and expose their presence.</p><p>Kanan's hand landed on her shoulder.</p><p>"They're doing fine," he told her gently.</p><p>"I'm not worried," she blurted.</p><p>His face twisted skeptically.</p><p>Hera sighed. "All right, I am worried. I can't help it. Any time Ezra's anywhere <em>near</em> Stormtroopers now I just—"</p><p>She broke off, forcing herself to take a deep breath and calm down.</p><p>"I should have made him stay behind," she muttered.</p><p>Kanan shook his head. "Come on, you know he never would have done that," he reminded Hera a bit sternly. "He would never have obeyed that order. He can't stand waiting behind while the rest of us go into danger. Would have found some way to sneak himself along."</p><p>Hera stopped tapping her arm, raising that hand up to cover her face with a weary groan. "Ugh, that boy is such a martyr." She peeked up behind her palm at Kanan. "Gets it from you, you know," she snarked.</p><p>He smiled and gave a nonchalant shrug. "It's a Jedi thing."</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Sabine finished attaching a detonator to the base of the dish's main antenna prong.</p><p>"Okay, that's the last of them," she announced, stepping back and observing her placement.</p><p>Ezra pushed up his helmet, leaning back with a frown.</p><p>"No offense Sabine but..." His eyes traced back towards the edge of the dish, then up at the tip of the antenna high above. "...I'm not sure your detonators have enough firepower to really damage this thing."</p><p>Sabine shrugged helplessly. "Well I didn't really get a chance to restock before we left Yavin. These are all I could make on short notice." She lifted her wrist gauntlet, tapping a couple buttons. "I've timed them so that they should feed into each other when they blow, hopefully creating a big enough explosion and shockwave that it'll snap that antenna in two."</p><p>
  <em>"WUB. WUB WUB WUB WEB."</em>
</p><p>"Oh did you have a <em>better</em> idea for how to maximize our limited resources?" Sabine snapped at Chopper.</p><p>The C1 ducked his dome almost shame-faced. <em>"WRRR..."</em></p><p>"Hang on," Ezra said, alerting to something. He straightened up from his crouch, peering off into the vivid blue sky. A low hum was sounding on the edge of his hearing, a distant buzz like engines. "Do you hear that?"</p><p>Sabine paused, pursing her lips and frowning under her helmet. She could hear it too, a tinny sound growing louder and closer. She turned and squinted into the distance, spying a silver blip diving, moving fast.</p><p>"Is that... a ship?"</p><p>Tiny red bursts streaked out from it and then the next second the dish rocked beneath their feet as the laser bolts pierced through the relay's stem, tearing through durasteel and machinery, punching fire though the holes they made.</p><p>Sabine and Ezra flailed as the blast wobbled the dish, Chopper screeching indignantly. Sabine jerked herself upright, appalled as she spotted the U-wing streaking overhead.</p><p>"What the <em>kriff?!</em>"</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>"What is he <em>doing?!</em>" Hera yelled, lunging forward for the comms button furiously. She mashed it, barking sharply. "Saw! Break off right now! You are jeopardizing my crew!"</p><p>The man had the gall to reply, <em>"Relax Syndulla. I won't hit your kids."</em></p><p>Hera sputtered, so angry she couldn't form words. In the co-pilot's chair Zeb felt his hackles raising, and Kanan's body tightened, worry spiking inside him. Hera grabbed up the controls and sent the shuttle swerving into a sharp nosedive.</p><p>Down, down they dropped, all caution forgotten, all that was left a frantic need to retrieve her team.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>The teens uncovered their heads, Ezra dropping his faceplate back down protectively as a door on the side of the antenna base slid open and Stormtroopers poured out, firing at both them and the U-wing as it made another pass.</p><p>"I thought this was a stealth mission!" he complained, snapping on his lightsaber and deflecting shots.</p><p>"Well, it just went hot! Come on!" Sabine yelled, grabbing his wrist and pulling him along.</p><p>They ran towards the edge of the dish, Sabine leading him, dodging shots as they popped after their feet.</p><p>But once they reached the rim they had to stop. There was nowhere to go.</p><p>Chopper called out across the way, warning them he was taking action.</p><p>
  <em>"WUB WUBWUB WUB WUUUB!"</em>
</p><p>Sabine spied his manipulator clicking in the port and felt a sudden shift in her footing.</p><p>"Oh boy," Ezra said, vocalizing her thoughts.</p><p>Her hand snapped out for one of the rods along the array. "Grab on!" she told him.</p><p>He pulled himself up, pressing tight to Sabine and clinging to the same rod as the dish tilted, slowly rotating backwards, spilling the troopers down a suddenly sharpening incline. They yelped and flailed as they went falling past Ezra and Sabine, dropping into the empty space and clouds below.</p><p>A loud grinding and then the dish began tilting the other way, just enough so that Ezra and Sabine could find their footing again.</p><p>The two scrambled back onto their feet, a loud engine whine sounding through their helmets. They turned as one to see the U-wing pulling to a stop, angling around and parking in midair.</p><p>The side door slid open to reveal Saw, standing proudly next to a cluster of proton bombs.</p><p>Sabine glared at him through her visor. "You know, you could have warned us that you were changing the plan," she griped, crossing her arms tightly.</p><p>He tilted his head in a shrug. "You didn't have enough explosive anyway." One hand reached behind the first cluster of bombs. "Heads up!" he called.</p><p>He sent them rolling out of the cargo hold, the clusters bouncing heavily as they clattered down the dish.</p><p>Ezra watched them drop and settle in the bottom of the dish. "Yeah, that will probably do it," he said.</p><p>Saw gestured for them, motion hurried. "Come on, I'll give you a ride."</p><p>Ezra froze. He didn't know why he felt a sudden cloud of danger or why his anxiety was suddenly spiking, but he felt very clearly that getting onto Saw's ship now was a <em>bad </em>idea.</p><p>Sabine seemed to have the same sense, shifting from foot to foot fretfully. Both of them hesitated, looking towards each other.</p><p>Irritation crept into Saw's expression. "Unless you'd like to stay and get blown up," he said, "I suggest you come on board. Those charges are on a real short fuse."</p><p>Dismayed and reluctant, but realizing they had no other choice—Hera was still too far away in the Imperial shuttle and the timers on the charges were pitching shriller—the two teens turned forward and engaged their respective jetpacks. Ezra paused a moment to comm Chopper.</p><p>"Come on Chopper, we're going."</p><p>The droid quickly withdrew from the port, firing up his boosters and joining the two as they landed in Saw's cargo hold.</p><p>The side door slid shut and locked.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Hera watched the U-wing pull away and yanked back on the throttle, leveling out her dive and climbing now, straining the small shuttle for all it was worth to avoid the bright explosion that engulfed the relay, splintering apart metal and wiring.</p><p>The craft jostled from the shockwave, rattling uncomfortably a moment before it stabilized.</p><p>She chased the U-wing into the upper atmosphere, cursing the Imperial shuttle for its slower speed.</p><p>She hailed the Rebel vessel, both hands clenching tight around the yoke.</p><p>"Gerrera! Pull alongside this instant and give me my kids back!" she yelled.</p><p><em>"Sorry Syndulla. I need them more right now. Besides,"</em> he chuckled, <em>"the relay did its job one last time, sensors picking up a Destroyer exiting hyperspace. We won't have time to dock, I'm afraid."</em></p><p>Zeb growled and ducked over the speaker, ears twitching furiously. "You planned this, didn't you?!" he accused with a snarl.</p><p><em>"Things just fell into place, Garazeb," </em>Saw dismissed lightly. <em>"Call it the will of the Force or something."</em></p><p>Now <em>Kanan</em> was gnashing his teeth, leaning in angrily over the dashboard. "That's <em>not</em> how the Force—"</p><p><em>"I'll return your kids to you safe and sound," </em>Saw promised. <em>"</em><em><strong>After </strong></em><em>I'm done with them</em>," he emphasized<em>. "Who knows? They might enjoy fighting with a real army for a change."</em></p><p>Hera was still straining to keep up but with a click from the comm and a long gray streak, the U-wing disappeared into the backdrop of space and stars.</p><p>She screeched.</p><p>
  <em>"That slimy son of a</em>
  <em>—!"</em>
</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Hyperspace passed softly around them. There was a quiet sort of tension in the air, and Sabine fidgeted as she leaned against the wall.</p><p>Ezra carefully removed the jetpack from his shoulders, setting it off to the side and looking up towards the cockpit where Saw and an alien pilot were both seated.</p><p>The silence was thick, uncomfortable. Ezra swallowed down the strange unease inside him, clearing his throat.</p><p>"Look," he said, "we appreciate the save—"</p><p>"We don't, actually," Sabine interrupted. Her brown eyes glared, her hands tightening on her elbows. "We wouldn't have been in danger in the first place if you hadn't barged in lasers blasting," she complained.</p><p>That got a low laugh out of Saw. "I never do anything quietly, Sabine."</p><p>Ezra flashed a glance back at Sabine before picking his thoughts back up. "Anyway, we'd really like to just go back to Lothal now so—"</p><p>"You can't," Saw bit sharply.</p><p>Ezra's body tensed, some kind of flickering panic, or memory of panic, threatening on the edge of his nerves.</p><p>Softening, Saw corrected himself. "At least, not yet," he said. "I need your help with something."</p><p>That made Sabine's eyes narrow.</p><p>"<em>You</em> need <em>our</em> help?" she asked skeptically.</p><p>"You two and your droid are good at infiltrating Imperial bases."</p><p>Sabine flinched, darting a glance at Ezra, who had flickers of discomfort pulling at his face.</p><p>"Yeah I'm not..." Ezra trailed, fidgeting, shuffling in place, rubbing a hand down his neck and looking away. "...I'm not really... comfortable doing that kind of thing anymore."</p><p>"That's the mission. This is war, Ezra, there's no time for <em>comfort.</em> There's too much at stake." Saw's voice was feverish now, pitched with passion. "The Empire's building something, I know it, something they don't want anyone to find out about. They wiped out a whole population to keep it secret."</p><p>"Geonosis?" Sabine queried.</p><p>Saw nodded vigorously. "Exactly! If it's something they have to murder a whole planet to cover up, it's something the galaxy <em>needs</em> to know about!" He settled back down into his seat and gave a grim chuckle. "Besides," he called back to Ezra over his shoulder. "You owe me. It was my hyperspace coordinates and intel that let your friends get into the Mid Rim to rescue you." He turned forward again, concentrating on the tunnel of hyperspace, hands steady on the yoke. "The way I figure it, you're just paying back your debt."</p><p>Ezra's mouth was twisted and strained, tension across his shoulders and his hands gripped into fists by his side.</p><p>He wanted to argue. He <em>should</em> argue. Every single bit of this situation his brain hated and his reluctance was almost a physical liquid inside his belly, heavy and solid, pulling down his feet.</p><p>But there was also a sense of weighted obligation, of <em>needing</em> to do this, an onus of constrained responsibility.</p><p>He wrestled against the competing instincts for a long moment, feeling Sabine's concern hovering on his Force senses.</p><p>Finally, his aversion crumpled. He let out a breath, giving in.</p><p>"All right," he agreed. "We'll help." Not that they had much choice, he thought grimly. "What do you need us to do?" he asked.</p><p>Saw nodded towards his companion. "Show them, Edrio."</p><p>The Tognath rose from his seat and descended a couple steps down from the cockpit into the hold, tapping a couple buttons on the wall.</p><p>The holoprojector activated. The image of what looked like a floating spacedock appeared. Edrio grunted something in approval, standing back from the image.</p><p>"That's Faos station," explained Saw. "I recently acquired intel on a secret Imperial cargo being loaded aboard a civilian freighter there."</p><p>Curious, the two teens came closer, peering at the projection and listening in.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Wheeeeeee we're getting into the good stuff now! This was one of the plot bunnies I was getting, close to the end of "Shatterpoint", that convinced me I needed to do this fic as a collection rather than a single oneshot. Anyway, here are your usual chapter notes.</p><p>1. We <i>almost</i> make it back to Lothal lol. I'm sure you're all just as frustrated as Ezra. The bait-and-switch was kind of deliberate, I wanted the crew to be close to finally being home and then pull the rug out from under them at the last minute. (Just like these past three months have been for me yaaaaaay.) So I did have to contrive a little bit the method they use to make it through the blockade and how they get right back out again. But I think it makes enough sense to be passable and believable.</p><p>2. Iron Squadron has had to stay behind on Yavin for now, but don't worry, they will play into things again later.</p><p>3. Callback to Ezra's "Out or In" shorthand with Hera from "Shatterpoint". Also, the <i>last</i> time Ezra stayed behind while everyone else went on the mission... *gestures to all of "Shatterpoint"*... that, so yeah, there was pretty much no way he was not going to come, in spite of how uncomfortable he was. (And he's going to <i>continue</i> to be uncomfortable, as we'll see next chapter. Sorry Ezra.)</p><p>4. Saw's like the crazy conspiracy-theory anarchist uncle of the Ghost crew family, you <i>know</i> he's probably right but you're still all like, "Hnnnn stop being a bad influence on my kids!"</p><p>5. Speaking of, Hera is definitely SUPER pissed at Saw even-more-explicitly basically kidnapping them this chapter. More Mama Bear fury to look forward to on that end next time.</p><p>A slight cliffhanger ending to leave you on, and I do hope you join me again for resolution next time!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. What We Choose To Fight For</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ezra's discomfort with Saw's mission reaches an apex.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A weekly update this time! What can I say, I was on a roll. I'll not keep you from it, let's just get right down to business.</p><p>Warning for a depiction of a panic attack and general trauma-related anxiety.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hera paced in tight circles across the shuttle floor. She was still sputtering, angry half-formed sentences overlapping each other, audible only to herself as she muttered, not wanting to break Kanan or Zeb's concentration as they listened for incoming communications.</p><p>It evidently wasn't helping, because Kanan gave a loud sigh from the cockpit and turned around in his seat.</p><p>"Calm down, Hera," he told her.</p><p>"<em>How</em> can I be calm at a time like this?!" she immediately demanded, her lekku curling tight at the ends. "Saw betrayed our trust, almost wrecked the mission by changing tactics halfway through, and now he's taken Ezra and Sabine off to who <em>knows</em> where!"</p><p>Kanan was out of his seat and grasping her arms, holding her firmly in place so she would stop pacing.</p><p>"He <em>won't</em> hurt them," he said firmly. "You know that."</p><p>Her instinctive retort came up against a wall in her throat, her anger halting. Her open mouth faltered and she bit her lip, eyes strained. Tension trembled inside her.</p><p>Her shoulders slumped a bit as she let out a breath.</p><p>"I'm not so convinced he won't..." she said quietly. "He's slipping, Kanan. He's become distrustful and paranoid, ruthless... The Alliance formally denouncing him only made him more fanatic." Her eyes squeezed closed and she shook her head, feeling helpless. "And he doesn't... he hasn't been around Ezra since Geonosis, he won't know how... He doesn't know what Ezra's sensitive to, how to calm him down."</p><p>Kanan's hand came up under her chin, tilting her head up softly.</p><p>"Sabine does," he reminded her. "She knows almost better than anyone. She'll protect him."</p><p>Hera shook with emotion, the edges of her eyes welling.</p><p>Kanan leaned forward, until the rough surface of the Jaig eyes mask was pressed against her forehead.</p><p>"Listen to me," he said. "<em>They're going to be okay</em>."</p><p>Hera sniffled a little but calmed, reaching up and rubbing a finger under her eyes. "Don't tell me you're not angry," she said.</p><p>"Oh I'm furious," Kanan assured her, stepping back lightly. "But until we have more information, or we hear from one of them, I'm willing to give the man the benefit of the doubt."</p><p>"Uh, speaking of..." Zeb piped up, alerting to and pointing down at a flashing light on the console.</p><p>Hera started making her way back up towards the cockpit. "Is that them?"</p><p>"Phoenix group secure frequency. Pretty safe bet," Zeb reported. He went ahead and opened the channel.</p><p>
  <em>"Spectre 5 to decoy shuttle, can anyone hear me?"</em>
</p><p>Hera almost sagged with relief at the sound of Sabine's voice. "We read you Spectre 5," she replied, taking up the pilot's seat and sinking into it. "What's the situation?"</p><p>Sabine started talking very quickly, explaining everything in a long burst of words.</p><p>
  <em>"Okay first of all, we're not hurt, we're all perfectly fine, so don't freak out and and try to come get us. At least not right away. Saw may actually be on to something big here. We're following up a lead about secret Imperial cargo being smuggled on a civilian cargo ship."</em>
</p><p>Hera exchanged a glance with Kanan and Zeb, then shifted a bit forward in her seat. "Where is this cargo ship, exactly?"</p><p><em>"Faos station,"</em> Sabine reported. <em>"But it's not due to depart for a couple days. We're going to have to go dark for a little bit while we wait for it to finish being loaded."</em></p><p>Hera frowned in displeasure at that. "Any chance I can fly in and pull you out before then?"</p><p>A series of warbling binary sounded in the background.</p><p><em>"Uh Chopper says probably not a good idea, I had him check the manifests as soon as we landed and apparently the decoy transponder and burner shuttle Saw stole is for a ship from here," </em>Sabine relayed.<em> "He must've ambushed it sometime after its last departure. That ship isn't due back here for another week and a half, so if you turn up early</em><em>—"</em></p><p>"I get it," Hera cut her off. She smeared a hand down her face.</p><p>"What about you coming to us?" asked Zeb. "There's gotta be plenty of ships you can snag."</p><p><em>"Surprisingly, no</em>," Sabine said with dry disappointment. <em>"There are like eight landing pads here and besides us only two are occupied."</em> She sighed over the channel. <em>"I'm sorry, Hera. It looks like we're stuck for the moment."</em></p><p>Zeb's ears twitched with irritation and he slouched back in his seat, sulking. Beside him, Hera glared at the console.</p><p>"Put Saw on," she ordered.</p><p><em>"Yeeeeeeaaaah, I don't think he wants to talk to you,"</em> Sabine drawled, the tone of her voice sending a picture to their minds of the girl looking reluctantly over her shoulder.</p><p>"Sabine, go put the comlink in his hand. Now," Hera repeated, her words biting and full of ice.</p><p>There was a bit of shuffling, some muttering voices, and then Sabine passed off the comlink.</p><p><em>"Sorry for borrowing your kids without permission, Captain,"</em> Saw apologized, not sounding nearly as sorry as he claimed. <em>"But don't worry, they'll be safe with me."</em></p><p>Hera's teeth gnashed inside her head. "If you do <em>anything</em> to put them in danger—" she started to threaten.</p><p><em>"You're too overprotective, Syndulla," </em>he cut her off. <em>"Like I said, they'll be fine. They'll call you for a pickup once we're done with the mission."</em> That seemed to be the extent to which he wanted to discuss things, because next he said, <em>"Gerrera out."</em></p><p>The line clicked off and went silent.</p><p>Hera steamed in her seat, taking slow, constrained breaths, trembling with anger.</p><p>Zeb took over. "Well," he said, "there's no use sitting around in hyperspace. I'll find us a place we can park until we hear from Ezra and Sabine," he offered.</p><p>Hera nodded to grant him permission, and when Kanan's hand slipped onto her shoulder, she reached up and gripped it tightly, unable to stop the coiling worry wringing through her heart.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Ezra turned over restlessly.</p><p>The thin padding of the U-wing's retractable crew seats wasn't the most comfortable of beds, but Ezra had slept in worse places and at least the U-wing was quiet, so he'd figured he'd at least try.</p><p>Sleep eluded him, however, covered over by a dozen anxious thoughts and worries about their situation.</p><p>Two days since they had gone dark, and cut off communication with Hera.</p><p>One more day until the cargo ship departed for its mysterious destination.</p><p>Ezra rolled over onto his back, pressing the side of his arm over his eyes. Static crackled dully in the edges of his mind, and he missed the <em>Ghost</em>'s soothing hum, missed the smell of Zeb's sweat and Sabine's paint.</p><p>As if on cue, he heard footsteps sounding their way across the hanger.</p><p>Ezra glanced over, watching Sabine step up into the hold through the open side door, a worn, weary smile on her face that warmed him, helping the static fade a little.</p><p>Sabine came to stand over him.</p><p>"Can't sleep either?" she guessed.</p><p>He only sighed in reply, and curled up into a sitting position, swinging his legs down over the edge of the seat and shaking his head.</p><p>Sabine's gaze turned soft with concern. She stepped closer.</p><p>"Is it about what happened this morning?" she asked.</p><p>The memory played in both their heads, unbidden. Ezra approaching Saw, hesitant and apprehensive, trying to argue that he wasn't going to be good for this infiltration.</p><p>"Do you want to find out what the Empire's hiding or not?" Saw had asked him, pointedly.</p><p>A frustrated sound had emanated from Ezra, who'd wrung his hands in his hair. "I don't <em>know,</em> okay? I don't know if I can handle this, I just..." His eyes had been strained, face flustered. "I know I'm a lot better now but I still... I just... I really just want to go home."</p><p>"Then <em>leave!</em>" Saw had snapped, unexpectedly loud. Sizzling anger burned in his eyes. "No one's stopping you! Just take one of the other ships and <em>go! </em> Walk out right when we're on the verge of discovering something that might actually <em>matter!</em>"</p><p>Ezra had frozen with a soft gasp and wide eyes and a look Sabine knew all too well—that of a kicked tooka flinching away from people it believed would hurt it.</p><p>She had jumped in immediately.</p><p>"Don't <em>yell </em> at him!" she'd scolded.</p><p>A mumbled apology and a guilty look were all she got in return, and Ezra had needed a long minute to calm down from the freezing panic that had stiffened his limbs, ringing like alarm bells in his head.</p><p>His sigh pulled them both out of the memory. Sabine stepped forward, silently sitting down next to him and putting a hand around his shoulder, letting him have space to sort out his thoughts.</p><p>He was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke up...</p><p>"I <em>know</em> this isn't the same and that Saw isn't..." He almost immediately had to cut himself off, swallowing down something tight in his throat. He started again, his voice even lower, almost a whispering murmur. "When I was on Ilum, Maul would tell me I wasn't a prisoner, that I could leave whenever I wanted to," he explained. He shook his head, his eyes squeezing closed. "But whenever I actually <em>tried</em> to leave, he would immediately stop me. I had to be strong enough to beat him first, he said."</p><p>"That's awful," Sabine sympathized, quietly horrified.</p><p>Ezra pressed the heel of his palm into his left eye, smearing his hand across his temple. "I felt so manipulated. It would have been so much easier if he'd just outright said I was his prisoner."</p><p>Sabine tightened her fingers on his shoulder, squeezing him to her armpit comfortingly, protectively. "Is... that how you feel now?" she asked, somewhat hesitantly.</p><p>He shook his head again, weary and exhausted. "I don't know..." he said. He bit his lip for a moment, opening his eyes. "I do see a lot of Maul in Saw," he admitted quietly. "The desperation. The anger. The desire to lash out and hurt." He exhaled with a heavy shuddering, trembling from head to toe for a moment. "Let's... let's just say the past three days have been... <em>difficult,"</em> he told her, gesturing vaguely at his own head.</p><p>"I hear ya," Sabine replied dryly. She rubbed his arm, whispering encouragingly into his ear. "It'll all be over tomorrow though."</p><p>He nodded. "One way or another," he agreed. "We'll either find what Saw was looking for or..." He stopped a moment, thinking. "...or I guess it'll be bust. I just hope Saw lets us go back home either way."</p><p>"You think he won't?" Sabine asked.</p><p>He shrugged. "I have an irrational fear, I guess."</p><p>She reached over, grabbing his wrist reassuringly with her other hand. "I'm with you all the way, Ezra," she promised.</p><p>He leaned his head into her temple, smiling softly for the first time.</p><p>"Thanks Sabine," he whispered. "I'm with you too."</p><p>She let a smile twitch at her lips and pulled him even closer, letting the tranquil feeling of comfort settle over them.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Her head pulled groggily out of darkness, colors taking shape as her eyes blinked open.</p><p>For a moment or two she wondered what had happened—her body seemed to ache all over and an insistent thought tugged at her like there was something important she'd forgotten.</p><p>Then in a rush it all came flooding back to her.</p><p>The mission. The Imperial prisoners. The kyber crystal. Heading down to the engine room to stop the ship. Saw stunning them, sending blue rings of energy slamming into their bodies to knock them out.</p><p>The initial rush of indignation was replaced quickly by fear, as she shifted and felt the metal binders press against her wrists.</p><p>A frantic thought began to take shape in her mind.</p><p>If he'd put binders on <em>her </em>then had he—?</p><p>She raised her head, searching frantically with her eyes. A small, slumped figure was right in front of her, orange jacket bright against the dull brown of the floor, hands bound like hers were behind his back. Ezra was on his side, curled up tightly, his knees almost pressed to his forehead, shaking in place.</p><p>Her head prickled with fear.</p><p>"Ezra?" she called.</p><p>The only response she got back was a small whimper and her heart squeezed inside her chest.</p><p>"Hey. <em>Hey,</em>" she called, even more frantically, eyes wide. She leaned up on an elbow, trying to better see him. "Are you okay?" she wavered.</p><p>His pale lips unstuck, his eyes squeezed closed tightly, face blanched and clammy.</p><p>"I'm... I'm fine," he told her, voice shaking.</p><p>He clearly wasn't. Sabine could see the struggle on his face, how his body was trembling softly, and felt fury and protective instinct flood through her heart.</p><p>She raised her upper body off the floor, casting her gaze about angrily for the man who'd put them in this situation.</p><p>"Saw!" she snapped, spotting him standing close by, casually paying the two teens on the floor no heed. "Let us go this instant!" she demanded.</p><p>"I can't," he said, lowering his comlink and stowing it in his belt. He must've just been updating Edrio on their position. "You'd try and stop me," Saw was ranting, "and I've come too far to give up now." His eyes held a feverish, obsessive light. "I <em>must </em>learn the secrets of my enemy," he breathed.</p><p>He seemed to come to himself, his eyes growing present, looking down and noticing the curled-up Ezra suddenly.</p><p>"What's wrong with him?" he asked.</p><p>Sabine's teeth clenched inside her head. "You <em>know</em> what's wrong!" she yelled. "He hates being restrained! Let us go!" she demanded again.</p><p>A look of quiet horror and realization passed over Saw's face. "Right," he said, quickly bending down and fiddling with the cuffs on Ezra's wrists, loosing them. "Sorry, sorry!" he blurted.</p><p>Ezra's hands immediately came up to clench around his ears as soon as he was freed. Sabine waited for Saw to unlock her own cuffs before sitting up and flinging her arms around him, pulling him upright, whispering reassurances in his ear in a long unbroken stream.</p><p>"You're okay. You're okay, you're not <em>there</em>," she told him, squeezing him tightly, trying to anchor him. "You're safe. You're <em>safe. </em>I'm right here, Ezra. Just listen to my voice."</p><p>She heard him take a shaky, deliberate inhale.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>
  <em>Break the problem down.</em>
</p><p>It was advice given to him by a Jedi Master in his darkest hour, and Ezra clung to it now, letting the words reverberate in his head and drown out the echoes threatening to choke him.</p><p><em>Okay, </em>he thought. <em>Okay okay.</em> <em>Get your breathing under control. That's the first step. Just breathe.</em></p><p>He forced himself to take a slow breath.</p><p>Sabine's arms were tight around him, helping him to focus on where he was. Her voice was mumbling in his ear, driving away the fragments of Pryce that threatened on the edge of his hearing.</p><p>His head was clearer the next time he inhaled.</p><p>Slowly, he came back to himself, his conscious mind returning to the engine room floor of the cargo ship.</p><p><em>Force, I hate that, </em>he thought to himself, feeling his mind calm at last. <em>I hate that, I </em><em><strong>hate</strong></em><em> that.</em></p><p>Prickling agitation lingered around his mind, and there was still a tightness around his lungs, a tension he couldn't quite get rid of. But he was focused enough to shoot a glare over Sabine's shoulder at Saw.</p><p>"You betrayed us!" he accused.</p><p>"I'm doing what I have to," Saw defended, "to uncover the Empire's secret before it's too late! Don't you see?" Passion lit the depths of his eyes. "Geonosis was only the beginning! We need to stay the course, find out what's in those empty coordinates in the Tonnis sector!" His gestures were sharp and pointed as he spoke. "I <em>know</em> that's where we'll find this—this superweapon!"</p><p>Sabine looked like she wanted to say something, but stopped herself with a look at Ezra. His face was sober, eyes dulled, lost in thought.</p><p>After a moment he spoke up quietly.</p><p>"I want to stop the Empire as badly as you do," he said. "But we can't ignore the plight of the people in front of us." His eyes raised with soft conviction. "We have to help <em>them</em>."</p><p>"What <em>point</em> will that be if the Empire finishes their construction?!" Saw yelled.</p><p>"Because they're here <em>now</em> and they need us!" Ezra argued back, raising his voice a little. "You don't even know if this superweapon <em>exists!</em>"</p><p>An alert began to sound throughout the engine room, startling the three of them.</p><p>Saw was the first to recover. "Well, we're about to find out," he said, moving over to the power coupling display screen and bringing up a view from the outside cameras.</p><p>Ezra and Sabine glanced anxiously at each other before silently getting up and joining Saw at the display, Ezra noticing the presence of the kyber crystal from the other hold with a perturbed and suspicious frown. If Saw had brought it in here, he didn't have anything good planned for it.</p><p>They watched over his shoulder as hyperspace disappeared and a shadow fell across the cargo ship.</p><p>The shadow of a very normal, ordinary Star Destroyer.</p><p>Saw looked stricken, clenching a fist tight on the console as he stared at the traitorous sight.</p><p>"No..." he breathed. "No no no, that can't be it!"</p><p>Sabine narrowed her eyes into a glare. "There's nothing here," she said bitterly. Her expression flashed with anger. "You scared Ezra for no reason!"</p><p>Saw searched the display, a stung look of desperation on his face. "Is has to be here... It <em>has </em>to be..." he strained. "All this <em>can't</em> have been for nothing!"</p><p>Ezra felt a sinking disappointment. Not that he'd wanted Saw to be right, but to have come all this way only to find a dead end was... frustrating on a level he couldn't explain. And as he looked at Saw and the man's hands clenched on the console, a strange pity grew in his heart. He recognized that kind of single-minded, overriding obsession.</p><p>"Hey," he called, earnestly. "It's <em>not</em> for nothing. Okay? We can still save the prisoners."</p><p>Saw pulled back from the console, straightening up with a derisive snort. "Oh you are so <em>infuriatingly</em> like a Jedi sometimes," he bit. "Of all people, I thought <em>you </em>would understand how important this is. The Empire's about to destroy <em>your</em> world too." His eyes fell. "Just like they did Onderon..."</p><p>Sabine stepped forward, a retort on the tip of her tongue, but Ezra held her back, palm against her breast plate, stopping her before she could speak.</p><p>Softly, he said, "I <em>do </em>understand. There's almost nothing I wouldn't do to save Lothal." He continued, voice growing more fervent. "I know what it's like to have something bad happen to you and to the people you love and feel like—" His voice hitched a moment. "—like it was your fault." Flickers of Malachor were the most prominent memories that traced through his mind, his naive trust and stubbornness that had gotten Kanan blinded, started Maul's obsession with him. Ezra latched onto that as an anchorpoint for his argument. "Like you'd do <em>anything</em>, go to any lengths, to make up for it, make sure it doesn't happen again."</p><p><em>Even listen to the whispers of a Sith holocron</em>, he thought, with a stab of quiet self-loathing.</p><p>Saw hadn't interrupted him, which Ezra took as a win. Maybe he was actually listening? He raised his head with a small shake.</p><p>"But that guilt and fear... it's <em>poisonous</em>. If you let it fester it'll overtake you, twist you into something dark, blind you to the truth."</p><p>"Don't lecture me," Saw snapped, and Ezra flinched slightly, seeing Maul in Saw's place for a moment. "I see more clearly now than ever."</p><p>Saw turned away, one hand on the console. Ezra struggled to get the tightness around his lungs under control, will away the irrational alarms ringing on the back of his spine.</p><p>"I am sorry about earlier," Saw said, sounding genuine in his apology for once. "I know what that's like too." He turned eerily somber. "To see ghosts in the gaps of your vision. Hear echos in your waking thoughts. The nightmares, the restlessness..."</p><p>He cast a sad look at Ezra.</p><p>"I hope you find the closure I can't."</p><p>Stirring, moving in a way that made the alarms in Ezra's head flare up with danger sense, Saw stepped back from the power coupling, raising something in both hands. His lightsaber, Ezra noticed.</p><p>"My ride's here," he said. "If you really want to stay and help those prisoners, do it quick."</p><p>He ignited the saber, feral look on his face.</p><p>"Because I'm <em>not</em> letting the Empire get their hands on this."</p><p>He stabbed it into the mechanisms on the side, and quivering sparks started rolling up the cables into the grounding block around the kyber crystal.</p><p>The next moment he blasted the regulator for the grounding block, and a familiar sonorous whine began to fill the room.</p><p>Sabine groaned. "You did <em>not </em>just—"</p><p>Saw grinned manically, looking satisfied with himself. "Whatever it takes, Sabine. That's what I'm willing to do." He held Ezra's lightsaber out to the boy. "Farewell, my friends! I hope we meet again."</p><p>Ezra's eyes were narrowed as he took his saber back. "Don't count on it," he withered.</p><p>The crackling sparks off the kyber crystal grew louder and louder as they swiftly parted ways.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>They led the technicians through the airlock doors, emerging into the body of the other Imperial shuttle, Ezra and Sabine right in the midst of them and Chopper grumpily taking up the rear.</p><p>Excitement pinged around the crowd. Ezra could feel the elation and relief from the former prisoners reverberating in the Force, a cool, calming sensation that warmed in his heart, seemed to make their ordeal worthwhile.</p><p>There was a stirring from the cockpit and a sudden rush of worry. Ezra looked up and to his surprise it was Kanan who was rushing over first, almost tripping in his haste.</p><p>He righted himself with a wobble and flung arms around Ezra, gripping him tightly. Ezra gave a startled grunt, squished tight against his master's chest.</p><p>"Through the bond..." Kanan was saying. His voice wavered slightly, fear lining the notes. "I—I felt... felt your..."</p><p>He trailed off but Ezra understood, his arms coming up to return the hug, forehead leaning into Kanan's collar.</p><p>"I'm not hurt," he promised softly. "Sabine was there. She helped me out of it."</p><p>One arm loosened from around Ezra and beckoned to the girl, Kanan calling her over silently.</p><p>Sabine slipped in behind Ezra, one hand coming to rest softly on his shoulder, the other reaching around Kanan's chest.</p><p>The Jedi embraced them both tightly, like precious cargo he wouldn't let go of. Ezra felt the man's trembling emotions steady as he held them, felt them and knew they were okay.</p><p>Hera slipped softly in from the other side, her lekku nudging on Ezra's left. One arm around Kanan, one arm reaching across Ezra's back to land a hand behind Sabine's shoulder. Her grip was softer but there was no mistaking the relief that mirrored Kanan's.</p><p>"I'm so proud of you," she whispered. "And I'm <em>so</em> glad you're safe."</p><p>"Ditto," agreed Zeb, also coming up to the huddle. "C'mere ya sprogs."</p><p>He enveloped all four of them, burly arms washing them in his musty scent, and now they were laughing and groaning playfully and lightness was spreading through all of them.</p><p><em>"WHOP WEB WUB WEE?"</em> Chopper demanded indignantly from somewhere around their legs.</p><p>Hera grinned, lifting her head slightly so she could see him. "Come on, Chopper," she said. "You can be in the hug too."</p><p>Chopper blew a raspberry and shoved forward, rolling over Sabine's foot as he forced himself into the midst of them, manipulators grabbing at their knees and shins.</p><p>Sabine's pained protest became a teasing threat, which turned into a back-and-forth about how Chopper knew all along the mission had been a bad idea, no one ever listened to him, more threats, and then the embrace dissolved naturally, the six of them stepping back.</p><p>Ezra looked to Kanan and Hera, the warmth in his heart dislodging all the static and echoes and whispers, and they looked back with parental affection, smiling in a way that made his chest ache.</p><p>"Let's go home," he said, and there was no disagreement.</p><p>They turned course back to Lothal.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, chapter notes.</p><p>1. I did like an hour and half's worth of research for a couple throwaway lines of dialogue in these past two chapters. I almost felt like Saw by the end of it, all, "Okay, where <i>is</i> this damn Death Star being built anyway?" Lol.</p><p>(As it turns out, the Maw Installation, near Kessel, also relatively near Eadu. So I used that as a reference point to basically just arbitrarily decide where Jalindi, Faos Station, and the Tonnis Sector were and plot them on the galaxy map.)</p><p>2. Ezra and Sabine spend a little more quality time with Uncle Saw in this version. I've been slowly bringing the timescales back into alignment. That's not gonna last long, some major alterations coming up soon, but for now we're basically parallel to canon.</p><p>3. Exploring some of Ezra's lingering Maul-related trauma and how Saw inadvertently pings all the wrong reminder buttons for Ezra in that regard. I rewatched the episode multiple times while writing this chapter and hnnnnnn the number of times Ezra <i>flinches</i> away from Saw just fit way too perfectly.</p><p>4. Ezra uses Compassion and Empathy and Relating To Your Trauma on Saw. It... doesn't work as well.</p><p>5. Skimmed a lot of Saw's Wookiepedia page for this and discovered Saw had <i>also</i> been electrically tortured (by the Separatists, in the Clone Wars show). Just from the description it sounded intense and very child-unfriendly. So yeah, no way he doesn't have PTSD too, and that probably feeds into his paranoia and obsessive behaviors. In the end he's just a man who's been hurt too much and lost too much to let go of his pain. Fits in really well with the theme of "How different survivors learn to cope" I thought. (Also another parallel to Maul.)</p><p>6. Spacefamily group hugs! The kids deserved it, honestly. I just wanted to end things super soft.</p><p>We're going back to Lothal for real this time, so keep your hats on 'cause it's gonna be an adventure! I'm looking forward to a lot of upcoming things, is all I'll say.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Fadeout</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Rebels make a desperate escape when they are found out at Old Jho's.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello again readers! I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy reading it.</p><p>Warning for minor character death.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kallus nursed a drink as he waited for the secure line to connect. Old Jho casually wiped down the bar in front of him, talking aside to Ryder and Kanan as the two men discussed plans.</p><p>Ezra was about somewhere, Kallus didn't know where exactly, and the rest of them had taken up various spots around the cantina, blending in with the sympathetic populace, who crowded close around them to hide them from view of the street whenever Stormtroopers patrolled too near.</p><p>The line clicked, a beeping sounding as the code was accepted, and then a holovisage image appeared; three very familiar teenagers.</p><p>Kallus sat staring for a moment in disbelief. "Oh you've got to be kidding," he said.</p><p>At his voice, the teens alerted, the three of them stumbling over each other trying to get closer to the speaker. <em>"Kallus!" </em>they all cried happily.</p><p>The man had his elbows on the bar and his fingers pressing into his temples, hiding his eyes. "Did you three seriously commandeer a communications station just for the chance to talk to me?" he asked them wearily.</p><p><em>"When are you coming baaaaack?"</em> Gooti whined in distress, not answering the question.</p><p><em>"Yeah, it's been totally lame without you. AP-5 has us doing inventory on the repair tools</em>—<em>for all the squadrons, daily</em>—<em>and Sergeant Matlock keeps stealing my snack stores!"</em> Jonner complained.</p><p>Kallus felt the beginning of a headache start to throb inside his skull.</p><p>"And where exactly is Sergeant Matlock?" he asked.</p><p><em>"Oh, we gave him the slip hours ago,"</em> Mart replied, so nonchalantly and casually that Kallus felt an involuntary twitch. <em>"Seriously though, why haven't you been responding to any of our messages?"</em></p><p>"I explained this to you," Kallus griped, saying the words through grit teeth. "This was a whole conversation before I left. Any unsecured communications could be intercepted by the Empire and jeopardize our mission here."</p><p><em>"Yeah but we </em><em><strong>miss </strong></em><em>you!"</em> Gooti told him.</p><p>Kallus could feel Ryder and Kanan looking towards him, see their amused expressions from the corner of his eye. He sighed heavily, pressing his fingers into his eyes now.</p><p>"Ensigns..." he said, sounding so, <em>so </em>very tired. "Please put someone in charge on the line."</p><p>The teens grumbled but complied, stepping out of view of the camera and shuffling around somewhere out of sight. A Rebel technician replaced them momentarily.</p><p><em>"Captain Kallus,"</em> he acknowledged, nodding respectfully. <em>"What news from Lothal?"</em></p><p>Kallus straightened, pulling himself into something of a professional posture. "I have some news about the status of the factory raid we're planning," he relayed. He nodded back towards the former governor. "And then Ryder has intel on the TIE Defender project."</p><p>The technician nodded again, pressing a button to patch them through to Rebel Command.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Ezra sat idly in the grass, contemplating a nearby pile of rocks.</p><p>The wind whispered through the tall stalks, miraculously still untouched by the Empire's machinations. Ezra could see a crawler on the edge of the horizon though, belching out smoke and fumes, and fought against the anger that threatened to rise in him at the sight.</p><p>Instead, he sought after the cool tranquility of the Force, breathing in and out in a slow, steady rhythm.</p><p>In. Out.</p><p>Calm his mind. Focus.</p><p>Ezra narrowed his eyes at one boulder in particular, raising his hand quietly and focusing.</p><p>Look for it... look for it... let the Force guide him...</p><p>His mental touch ran over the surface and then sunk into its bulk, finding tiny fissures left from erosion and wind weathering.</p><p>Very carefully, he put pressure on one of the fissures. Pushing softly.</p><p>A creaking sounded from the boulder as Ezra's manipulation with the Force worked upon it.</p><p>Ezra added just a little bit more pressure.</p><p>
  <em>Crack!</em>
</p><p>The boulder gave a sharp crackle as it split, a wide fracture appearing in the surface, bisecting the rock with a solid black line. It didn't split the top off completely, but it had fractured a good solid piece of the main body of the boulder, separating it from the apex.</p><p>Ezra exhaled softly, coming out of the Force and looking at his work in satisfaction.</p><p>He had learned this technique from the same Jedi Master who had taught him how to break down seemingly huge tasks into smaller manageable pieces. Every opportunity he got he would practice, focusing on finding the hidden shatterpoints in objects, pushing on them to make them splinter apart.</p><p>It was still hard. Manipulating the physical world with such precise Force telekinesis was not easy by any stretch of the imagination, and it took so much concentration and focus that Ezra often felt drained by the end of it. But every time he was able to pull it off, it felt like some kind of small little victory, some reclamation of his heritage as a Jedi, some manner of connecting with the culture and teachings that should have been his from the beginning.</p><p>Plus it just felt... <em>good</em> to be so in tune with the Force he could perceive an object's properties. The warmth that filled him seemed to melt all the echoes and static away, leaving room for nothing but peace and serenity.</p><p>He leaned into that feeling now, feeling his mind calm and at ease, untroubled by the phantoms that plagued him, at least for a moment.</p><p>The moment passed. Deep in the Force as he was, Ezra felt the tingle and prickle that buzzed his senses, warning him of something coming, some undefined danger he had to be careful of.</p><p>Ezra raised his head with a small gasp, straining his ears and eyes for whatever it was that he felt.</p><p>There was something standing just over the next rise. Ezra squinted at it, straining his eyes to make out more details.</p><p>It looked like... but it couldn't be.</p><p>Ezra's eyes slowly widened, the breath catching a bit in his throat.</p><p>A great animal, like a huge crouching dog, hovered on the top of the hill, staring back at him with bright amber eyes. It was covered in white fur, tufted ears on the top of its head, and scaly ridges along its snout and nose.</p><p>
  <em>Is that... a Loth-wolf?</em>
</p><p>The thing stood there, like a marble statue, a sound like a howl carrying on the wind across to him, though the creature's mouth never opened.</p><p>Ezra looked at it in a daze, entranced for a long moment, before the danger sense flared stronger and broke him from the trance.</p><p>A creeping sense of dread was starting to pool in his stomach.</p><p>Ezra shook himself, rising from his haunches, grabbing the hat that went with his civilian disguise, and getting quickly to his feet. The Loth-wolf was gone by the time he looked back at the distant hill, but the foreboding remained, and he turned swiftly back toward the low buildings of Jhothal and began trotting back towards town, heart beating with a frantic, anxious pace.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Kanan's head lifted as Ezra's glowing presence suddenly flared on his senses, the emotions he could sense from the boy anxious and worried.</p><p>"We need to leave," Ezra said, interrupting Ryder as the former governor spoke with Mon Mothma. "We need to leave <em>now,</em>" he insisted, urgently.</p><p>Kanan closed his sightless eyes and tuned into the Force, detecting the same foreboding Ezra was feeling.</p><p>"You're right," he confirmed, quickly pushing back from the table, his stool giving a wooden squeal as he stood. "Hera! Zeb!" he called towards the back corner.</p><p>Confusion bubbled out of Ryder and Kallus, but they also broke away from the bar. Kanan heard Sabine's light bootsteps and Chopper's creaking wheels begin to approach, sensed their presences gather with Hera's and Zeb's in the clear center of the dining room, murmurs whispering around them as patrons shuffled nervously.</p><p>And then underneath the rustling voices, the sharp barking command of a Stormtrooper.</p><p>"Down there!"</p><p>Soft cries rang out from the crowd, alarm and fear rising in them, muddying the empathic waters of Kanan's mind. He felt Ezra latch onto his sleeve, tensed and on edge.</p><p>Jho moved hurriedly out from behind the bar.</p><p>"Take the sewer access tunnel in the back," he urged. "Quickly!"</p><p>Ryder's footsteps sounded in the opposite direction. "We'll stall, try to buy you some time," he volunteered, relaying the message to several of his operatives. Kanan heard blasters unsheathing and the stuttering shuffles of clothing and feet as civilians rushed to move out of the Rebels' way.</p><p>Hera brushed past him, trotting quickly towards where a metal iris sounded like it was sliding open. Sabine and Zeb and Kallus were quickly on her heels, and Chopper's boosters fired up with a low roar, the heat passing on Kanan's right, as the droid maneuvered over to the hatch and dropped down, the roar fading out.</p><p>Kanan jogged carefully, mostly relying on Ezra's guidance to lead him.</p><p>A warning spike sounded in the Force and Ezra was suddenly pulling back frantically on his arm.</p><p>Kanan jerked himself to a stop, coming up short, stumbling back as Ezra yanked them back under cover of the awning.</p><p>Blaster shots sizzled and popped in front of them, pinging off the metal sewer doors. Kanan heard a muted yelp from Sabine, already within. The droning high-pitched whine of a TIE fighter sounded from above them somewhere in the air.</p><p>The man clenched his teeth, giving a small hiss. He backed up several steps back into the cantina, but there was already another firefight at the top of the stairs behind them, shots and shouts carrying down the stairwell, frightened cries ringing out from the crowd.</p><p>Instinctively, one arm jabbed back to shield Ezra.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Jho covered his head as he was forced back away from the sewer entrance, the TIE fighter above still taking potshots down at the Spectres.</p><p>Ezra bit his lip, craning his head back anxiously over his shoulder at the other entrance. Turning forward again he made a quick decision.</p><p>He raised his hand and brought the Force to bear, switching the mechanism to seal the door and lock it.</p><p>It closed with a loud <em>Shnnk!</em> and Ezra tugged on Kanan's arm, pulling the man back further into the cantina.</p><p>His wrist comm buzzed with an insistent ping and Sabine's voice came on, snapping at him.</p><p><em>"What are you doing?" </em>she cried.</p><p>"Go. We'll catch up," Ezra told her, speaking quickly into the device before shutting it off and silencing it.</p><p>Jho's beady eyes met his and the Ithorian jerked his head towards the other corner.</p><p>"Kitchen door," was all he said.</p><p>Ezra nodded, and led Kanan that way. Civilians parted around them, put hands on their shoulders to cover them and urge them along.</p><p>A moment later Ryder came barreling down the stairs, blaster in hand, running through the crowd and pushing through people until he too was at their side, and all three of them slipped through the narrow door that led into the kitchens.</p><p>Kanan let go of him then, raising a hand and sensing out while Ryder crossed to the back door and checked the alley for signs of patrol.</p><p>Ezra found himself frozen with indecision, peeking through the crack of the door as the sound of the firefight stopped, and heavy-booted footsteps came trumping down the stairs.</p><p>Stormtroopers poured in from both the upper street and the courtyard, quickly spreading out, and the cries of the people they shoved aside wrenched at Ezra's heart.</p><p>An ominous clinking of heavy armor sounded down the stairwell, and Ezra's skin prickled nervously at the sight of a pair of Death Troopers, their matte black armor making them look like moving shadows.</p><p>Two regular Stormtroopers presented Jho before them, their hands on the Ithorian's arms, while another came up to one of them.</p><p>"Rebel insurgents escaped through the sewer access hatch, sir," the trooper reported.</p><p>The Death Trooper nodded. "Seal off all other exits, send a probe droid and two squadrons in to flush them out," he ordered.</p><p>The first trooper saluted. "Yes sir!" he acknowledged, running off to carry out the command.</p><p>The high-ranking Death Trooper turned his attention to Jho, brandishing his weapon in the Ithorian's face.</p><p>"Where did they go?" he demanded.</p><p>Jho was unflappable, expressing nothing but a defiant glare.</p><p>"Ain't got nothing to say," he told the Imperial. "I did nothing wrong."</p><p>That seemed to irritate the Death Trooper, who gripped his blaster tighter, shoulders tensing.</p><p>"Jho Rhuthan," the man growled. "You are hereby charged with treason for aiding and abetting enemies of the state." Flashing anger seemed to emanate from the Death Trooper's blank eyelenses. "Give up the Rebels now and you might be granted leniency."</p><p>Every impulse instinct inside him told him to intervene. His fists clenched at his sides, nails digging into his palms. Ezra felt Kanan's hand land on his shoulder, squeezing tightly, quietly stopping him from taking action. Ezra glanced up briefly to see Kanan shake his head in a silent reprimand.</p><p>Ezra returned his attention to the sight before him, watching helplessly.</p><p>Old Jho looked the Death Trooper straight in the eye and declared, "The Republic will rise again. Down with the Empire."</p><p>The Death Trooper squeezed the trigger and sent a clean, precise shot through Jho's chest.</p><p>Screams sounded from the crowd in the cantina, and Ezra's left hand snapped up and clamped over his own mouth as he held back a cry of horror, his eyes wide, staring at the body of his friend as it crumpled to a limp heap on the floor. He whimpered behind his palm, feeling Kanan's arms wrap around his shoulders, pulling him back and squeezing in a mute comfort.</p><p>"Spread out!" the Death Trooper ordered. "Question everyone! No one leaves this place until we get to the bottom of this!"</p><p>Shaking, Ezra pulled his eyes away from the crack, holding back tears. Ryder was motioning for him and Kanan to follow—the coast was clear and they had to leave now or risk wasting this chance to escape.</p><p>Stumbling, barely able to see past the blur in his vision, Ezra trailed after Ryder and slipped into the back alley.</p><p>Kanan's hand didn't leave his shoulder the whole time.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Every time they escaped one patrol, it seemed like they just ran straight into another one.</p><p>Ezra's chest was beginning to ache with exhaustion. His green blade moved on instinct, blocking blaster bolts methodically in a never-ending pattern. He, Ryder, and Kanan finally fought their way to a speeder depot and commandeered one of the vehicles, swerving around the metal legs of an AT-DP walker, whose cannon shots nearly upended them once as they turned outwards towards the city's edge.</p><p>Ezra came down hard on his seat, his teeth rattling, as the speeder jostled hard before coming back level.</p><p>"Hera, what's your position?" Kanan was calling into his comlink. "We've got a getaway vehicle, we can come to you."</p><p><em>"I can't tell one tunnel from another down here!"</em> she complained. <em>"This place is a maze!"</em></p><p>Ryder leaned slightly over, to talk into the open line. "We've left starbird symbols at junctions all throughout the sewers," he told her. "They should lead you to an access hatch that opens up on the outskirts. Well meet you there."</p><p><em>"Copy that,"</em> Hera acknowledged. <em>"Be careful, Kanan."</em></p><p>"You too," he said, signing off and raising his lightsaber, standing up awkwardly on the seat as the high-pitched whine of scout bikes blared up on their right.</p><p>Ezra grabbed the back of Ryder's pilot's chair and stood up as well, grim-faced and determined.</p><p>The two Jedi blocked the first couple of shots handily. Ezra redirected one back at its sender, managing to unseat the trooper with a satisfying yelp. The riderless bike careened forward, catching on something and flipping over. Ezra ducked the spinning metal as it whooshed way too close over his head, hitting a wall behind them and bursting into flame and scrap.</p><p>Kanan grappled with a second rider who'd gotten too close, wrestling half over the side of the speeder with the man for his sidearm. Ezra uncovered his head and ducked in low, sending his fist hard into the side of the Stormtrooper's solar plexus.</p><p>The man grunted breathlessly and doubled over on his bike, grasping the handlebars and his stomach and slowly falling behind.</p><p>"Thanks," Kanan said breathlessly, righting himself in his seat.</p><p>Ezra nodded and touched a hand to Kanan's shoulder.</p><p>The Force flared up around them again and both of them ducked the blaster bolts aimed at their heads. Another TIE fighter was swooping down, strafing the ground behind them as it closed in.</p><p>Ryder swerved the speeder to avoid the volley, knocking Ezra into the side a bit painfully.</p><p>"Well we're awfully popular tonight," the boy complained, ducking his head as sparks popped off the back from a lucky stray shot.</p><p>"Thrawn's been waiting for you to return," Ryder told him grimly, hands tight on the steering yoke, sending them down the long highway out of Jhothal. "He wanted to know the minute you came back to Lothal. That's why we've been trying to keep you two low-profile."</p><p>Ezra pursed his lips, thinking back to the man's previous insistence that he and Kanan operate without lightsabers as much as possible the first few days after they'd made contact, how he'd seemed to be deliberately kept away from more active missions and infiltrations.</p><p>He frowned, glancing up over the edge of the speeder at the TIE fighter pursuing them. "So much for that," he grumbled, leaning up and swinging his lightsaber to bat away a shot from the ship's cannons.</p><p>The TIE swerved around, coming at them for another pass, its cannons lighting up with a rapid burst of fire.</p><p>A twisting missile shot came out of nowhere though, and blasted against the side of the cockpit, sparking an ignition inside the craft that that had it exploding apart.</p><p>Ezra looked forward, spotting someone standing on the median of the highway, lowering the barrel of the missile launcher from their shoulder.</p><p>"Looked like you could use a hand!" the figure said, the voice young and exuberant and immediately familiar.</p><p>Ezra squinted, then gave a short laugh, lighting up. "Jai?" he called. "Jai Kell?"</p><p>Jai grinned, smile cracking his face. "The one and only!" he confirmed.</p><p>Ryder slowed the speeder, bringing it to a gradual stop as Ezra looked past Jai to where Marida Sumar was at the access hatch to the sewer, helping Hera up the ladder.</p><p>He met the widow's steel eyes across the way and they exchanged a look, Ezra nodding in gratitude and respect.</p><p>Hera, meanwhile, couldn't stumble towards him fast enough.</p><p>"Are you all right?" she asked frantically, reaching him, touching his face and shoulders in worry. "What happened?"</p><p>Cold anger settled inside Ezra's heart. "They shot Jho," he said bitterly. "He's dead."</p><p>Just now making it up the ladder, Sabine looked stricken as she overheard. Hera's hands squeezed his shoulders.</p><p>"I'm sorry, Ezra," she said quietly.</p><p>He just crossed his arms, lowering his head silently as the others made their way up. Zeb was frowning as he stepped away from the ladder.</p><p>"Uh... that speeder is not gonna hold all of us," he pointed out. Marida and Jai had brought their own, which was parked next to the side of the road, but with all six of them plus Kallus there was still not enough room.</p><p>Ryder abandoned his pilot's seat, motioning for the group to get off the highway. "We've got bigger problems," he grunted.</p><p>Torpedoes came whistling ahead of the next wave of Imperial pursuit, slamming straight into the second parked speeder and blowing it with a force that made them all duck and cower for a moment.</p><p>Uncovering their heads, they scrambled over the median and across the opposite road into the grasses as the thrumming sounds of multiple Imperial gunships started to build.</p><p>Ezra craned his neck up to look behind them, as they crouched low to the ground and sprinted away. At least five gunships were slowly approaching, weapons primed on the ground, looking like hanging birds of prey as they came closer and closer.</p><p>The boy's heart twinged. They were too exposed, they'd be spotted for sure. Ryder had paused a moment at the head of them, head up and searching for cover.</p><p>"Over there!" he hissed in a whisper, pointing towards a cluster of rocks.</p><p>They didn't quite make it to the shelter of the boulders before the gunships opened up, peppering the ground with hot blaster spray, sending dirt and earth into their faces.</p><p>Sabine grabbed him, tucking him under an arm and covering his head, and Ezra squeezed his eyes shut a moment as he waited for the volley to stop, before quickly moving behind one of the tall columns.</p><p>"This is not a good place to be!" Kallus shouted, back pressed up against a stone, his sidearm looking very dinky and ineffective as he held it in his hand.</p><p><em>"WUB WHUBBA WUB!"</em> Chopper complained, beeps a bit shrill.</p><p>Ezra could feel echoes threatening on the edge of his hearing and fought to keep focus. There was a steady panicked stream of fragmented thoughts in the back of his head—<em>They've caught us, they've caught us, they're going to take me back there, we can't escape, they're going to take me </em><em><strong>back</strong></em>—and he firmed his mouth, clenching his eyes tight to cut out his awareness of them.</p><p><em>Trust in the Force</em>.</p><p>They weren't captured yet. There was always a way out.</p><p>Breathing softly, calming himself, Ezra reached out through the Force, feeling its hum cover over the noise in his mind.</p><p>For a moment, nothing changed.</p><p>Then, underneath the blasting and shooting, he heard a a soft shuffle of padded paws.</p><p>Ezra looked up, opening his eyes and blinking in mute wonder. He looked past the others to the far side of the cluster. Standing between tall rock columns, as if it had always been there, was the white Loth-wolf, its golden eyes level and sagely, the Force vibrating around it.</p><p>Ezra tingled with a strange sensation, watching two more wolves poke their heads out from behind the columns and pad behind their leader. The others had stopped firing back at the gunships now, noticing their odd company. Zeb and Kallus looked nervous at the sight of the large beasts, but Kanan's chin was tensed and he stared straight forward, clearly feeling their presence, and Ryder, Marida, and Jai all had matching expressions of disbelief and wonder.</p><p>"Is that...?" Jai started to ask. He shook his head. "No, it can't be."</p><p>Marida slowly removed her head-covering, holding it to her chest in reverence.</p><p>The white Loth-wolf snuffed, and took a few steps forward, and the Rebels backed up in apprehension. In a daze, Ezra pushed off Sabine and approached the creature, ignoring the sharp way she hissed his name, ignoring the droning buzz of the gunships fast approaching, ignoring the blaster shots that nicked the rock column ring around them.</p><p>He extended his hand, and his mind, gently, reaching to connect with the creature. The Loth-Wolf felt ancient and strange, a mix of primal instinct and unnatural intelligence.</p><p><em>Can you help us?</em> he impressed through the connection, a little hesitant and meekly.</p><p>There was no response, at least not inside Ezra's head, but the Loth-wolf turned its side, easing down on its front paws to bow its head lower to the ground, an invitation to climb up.</p><p>"I... think they want us to go with them," he told the others.</p><p>Chopper warbled in doubt and Kallus looked extremely uncertain. Sabine's eyes strained out anxiously.</p><p>Hera stepped up behind her partner, the Jedi still standing in place where he was.</p><p>"Kanan?" she asked.</p><p>Ezra watched some kind of silent communication pass between his master and the wolf. Kanan stirred, turning towards Hera.</p><p>"It's all right," he assured her. He inclined his ear towards the buzzing of the gunships, almost on top of them now. "They're no friends of the Empire."</p><p>That seemed to be enough. The Rebels slowly approached, moving cautiously as yet more wolves appeared, as if from nowhere, to surround them. Enough to carry two people apiece.</p><p>Sabine settled nervously behind Ezra on the back of the white wolf. Her hands gripped the belt loops on his hips, her body tensed as the tufted sides of the creature shuddered in and out from its heavy breaths.</p><p>"Are you sure about this?" she asked him, whispering the question in his ear.</p><p>He nodded. "I don't sense any malice from them. Whatever they are," he said, "I think they're our allies."</p><p>"Well that's a nice change," she muttered, and then she gasped and had to cling tighter to him as the Loth-wolf lurched underneath their legs, loping up and beginning to trot away from the plain through the rock cluster.</p><p>The other Loth-wolves followed, falling into place behind their head, the Rebels holding on to their backs in nervous fear as the creatures found a path somehow through the winding columns and the blaster shots, and melted into the wilderness with soft footfalls.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>"What do you <em>mean</em> you've <em>lost</em> them?!" Pryce shouted at her subordinate, her eyes flashing with dangerous anger.</p><p>The gunships circled over their heads, sweeping in tight search patterns through the air, and several troop transports now clustered around the rocks, ground troops running here and there through the scant columns.</p><p>The Stormtrooper flinched a little bit. "We chased them into the rocks," he explained again. "We had them pinned down, but when the gunships reached the cluster they had just... disappeared."</p><p>Pryce crossed her arms with a sour look. "Did they go underground, trooper?" she asked with dripping condescension.</p><p>"Er... I don't think so?" the man offered in chagrin. "We haven't found any evidence of tunnels. But one of the pilots thought he saw..." He seemed reluctant to continue. "...a... a wolf?" he finished timidly.</p><p>There was an almost imperceptible flicker of fear in Pryce's eyes for a second.</p><p>She shook herself and scoffed.</p><p>"Don't be absurd," she snapped. "Loth-wolves are extinct. They have been for a millennium." She jabbed a finger towards the cluster. "There's nothing beyond those rocks besides open plain. I don't care if you have to level that ridge to the ground, <em>find them!</em>"</p><p>He snapped a salute. "Yes ma'am!" he barked, swiftly departing.</p><p>Pryce's eyes burned after him as he left, then looked over her shoulder with apprehension, a creeping unease moving through her heart.</p><p>She had been eager to give Thrawn the good news—that Ezra Bridger had been spotted in Jhothal among the Rebels—give him something to ease the fervor with which he checked and re-checked the reports from the ground on new insurgent activity, but now having seemingly lost track of him despite having him dead to rights...</p><p>...Perhaps it was better if she kept this knowledge to herself.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Heeeeee, totally posting this from work 'cause I'm too excited about it to wait til I get home.</p><p>Have some chapter notes!</p><p>1. Kallus continues to be very tired Rebellion dad in desperate need of coffee and a break. Lol.</p><p>2. Ezra slowly getting better at the Shatterpoint technique. This will come into play later. That's all I'll say on that.</p><p>3. RIP Jho. :(</p><p>4. We can see the timescale starting to separate and splinter again. This may or may not be related to Ezra's progress with Shatterpoint.</p><p>5. A little hint as to the current state of Thrawn's, ah... mental capacity? Which we will see more of next chapter.</p><p>Updates may or may not space back out to every other week, I'm going to try for a weekly update to get finished with this baby quickly (since we are moving, hopefully, and I will be busy with handling everything for that) but I can't make promises. Leave me a review dear lovelies, let me know what you're looking forward to.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Ponderous</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Thrawn's mind has been... preoccupied.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello readers! It has been busy out in realspace for me with all the preparations for our move under way, so I struggled to find the time and motivation to work on fic for a while. But bit by bit I cracked this chapter out and I'm really happy with the result! Hope you all enjoy it too!</p><p>Let's check in with our favorite blue bastard.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The strain in his eyes from looking at so many datapad screens and holoprojections was starting to become painful.</p><p>Thrawn closed them for a moment, leaning back and pinching the bridge of his nose. After a moment, it wasn't enough to contain his agitated energy, so he rose from his seat and paced along the sides of the room.</p><p>Up and down, one end to another. He passed by the pedestal that displayed Hera Syndulla's family kalikori and paused, staring down at it with a sharp gaze.</p><p>He had a quivering, intense urge to seize the offending piece and hurl it with force against the opposite wall.</p><p>He stepped away from the pedestal and resumed pacing, even more agitatedly. These unnatural violent impulses were becoming... alarmingly more frequent. There was a constant stress and pressure seemingly pressing down on his joints, and his mental clarity had been fragmenting, disrupted more than usual, though he couldn't say by what.</p><p>No... that wasn't quite true. He <em>did</em> know what was causing this... <em>tension </em>inside him.</p><p>His teeth clenched inside his head involuntarily.</p><p>That <em>boy.</em></p><p>The anomaly. Ezra Bridger. A factor in his games that refused to be defined. There had never been anything Thrawn's sharp, analytic mind had been unable to figure out and yet there he was, infuriatingly a mystery.</p><p>It did not make sense.</p><p>Ezra Bridger did not make <em>sense.</em></p><p>Thrawn stopped his pacing, mashing his fingers against his temple and forehead. He controlled his breathing, standing in place and trying to concentrate.</p><p>His ears caught the fluttering <em>hiss!</em> of his office door sliding open, and the footsteps that crossed their way down the hall towards him.</p><p>He glanced up to see Pryce approaching, and managed a tired upwards quirk of his mouth for her.</p><p>She was looking around at the haphazardly organized holoprojections shimmering about the room and the stacks of un-neat data pads piling up on his desk.</p><p>"Did you sleep at all last night?" she accused, tone scolding and slightly concerned.</p><p>He sniffed with some weary amusement. "An insufficient amount I am afraid," he confessed. Dropping his hand, he straightened and assumed a professional air. "I assume you have a report for me?" he prompted her.</p><p>She nodded. "Imperial troopers just located the Rebel hideout, about thirty clicks out from Capitol City. They captured plenty of insurgents but Ryder and several of his higher-ups were not at the encampment when the squadron made their raid. They're waiting to see if he comes back."</p><p>"But it is likely by now that Azadi knows the base is compromised," Thrawn concluded.</p><p>Pryce nodded again. "Very likely," she agreed. "We have patrols searching the surrounding areas and we've tightened security at the landing field where we have the TIE Defender Advanced prototype."</p><p>"Very good, Governor," Thrawn complimented idly, picking up one of the datapads from his desk and studying it. "Was that all?"</p><p>She hesitated to speak at first, an uncomfortable look on her face. Thrawn lowered the datapad slightly, looking up with a raised eyebrow at her.</p><p>"Was that <em>all, </em>Governor?" he asked, a slightly harder edge to his voice.</p><p>The woman visibly swallowed. Her eyes wouldn't meet his. There seemed to be a slight shake to her hands as she clasped them by her sides.</p><p>"Yes, Grand Admiral," she said. "That was all."</p><p>Thrawn's eyes narrowed, lines creasing in-between his brows. "Are you certain?" he asked her, his voice icy and chilling.</p><p>"There was nothing else," Pryce lied, the crack of her voice betraying her.</p><p>He took an ominous step towards her, making her flinch back.</p><p>"I am not a fool, Governor," he warned her. There was a silent promise in his body language, something almost feral and dangerous that clearly frightened the woman, who took a slow deep inhale to steady herself.</p><p>At length, she seemed to move past her reluctance.</p><p>"We have... unconfirmed eyewitness reports that... there may have been Jedi among the insurgents who escaped the raid on Old Jho's establishment," she relayed, every word pulling from her slowly, her face wincing and bracing for his reaction.</p><p>Thrawn's eyes lit up with keen interest. His expression seemed feverishly vindicated.</p><p>"So," he said, putting the datapad down on his desk. "The anomaly has returned."</p><p>"We don't know for certain it was Bridger," Pryce pointed out hastily.</p><p>He gave a dismissive wave. "Who else would it be? The young Jedi and his master are the only ones with strong enough connections to Lothal to care about its occupation." One hand ran along the smooth edge of his desk. "There are so few Force users remaining, after all."</p><p>Pryce recovered her composure, straightening her back, squaring her shoulders bravely. "I will expend every effort to root them out, Grand Admiral," she promised.</p><p>"There will be no need for great effort, Governor," he told her, some malicious glint in his red eyes. "Simply threaten the lives of the people of Lothal and they will come to you," he said.</p><p>Her eyes widened slightly as she absorbed that. "You believe that will work?" she asked, breathlessly.</p><p>Her nervousness had been replaced and now there was a hint of excitement in her voice. Thrawn gave a faint smirk; her thirst for brutality could be <em>so </em>very effective sometimes.</p><p>"If there is one thing I have learned about the Jedi," he said, "it is that they are <em>cripplingly </em>altruistic. Given the choice between harm to innocents and their own survival, they will forfeit their lives, every time." His hand raised, a finger pressing to his chin in consideration. "That is something we can take advantage of."</p><p>Pryce looked eager to chime in, but a beep from his desk drew Thrawn's attention. He crossed over to the console and pressed the button to open the comm channel.</p><p>"Yes, what is it?" he asked.</p><p><em>"Governor Tarkin is on the line for you, Grand Admiral," </em>the communications officer transmitted.</p><p>Thrawn's mouth pursed into a frown. He glanced up at Pryce, who was fidgeting a little, now.</p><p>"Should I go?" she asked.</p><p>Thrawn shook his head. "I may require your support," he told her, pulling out his seat and taking it as he gave instruction for the Outer Rim Moff to be put through. "Relay the transmission to my office," he told the bridge technician.</p><p>He did so.</p><p>Tarkin's visage shimmered into life in front of them.</p><p><em>"Grand Admiral," </em>the Moff acknowledged, in his short, clipped accent.</p><p>"Governor Tarkin," Thrawn said, nodding back. "To what do I owe this... unexpected pleasure?"</p><p><em>"Rather a considerable amount less pleasurable than I think either of us would prefer, I'm afraid," </em>Tarkin sniffed, by way of preemptive apology. <em>"You're being summoned to Coruscant."</em></p><p>Thrawn's shoulders stiffened slightly. His mouth pinched into a disturbed frown. "At such a critical junction for the planned mass-production of the TIE Defender?" he questioned. "For what purpose?"</p><p><em>"For a budgetary meeting of sorts,</em>" Tarkin explained, sounding witheringly unhappy about it, <em>"between various project heads, set to settle the direction of the Emperor's strategy for putting down the Rebel Alliance and bringing order once again to the galaxy."</em></p><p>Thrawn felt a vague irritation pulling at his hairline, and grit his teeth slightly before responding, very carefully, "The Emperor has assured me that he supports <em>my</em> project."</p><p><em>"I know what promises the Emperor has made you,"</em> Tarkin said.<em> "However I also know that he has been listening recently to Orson Krennic, who has been doing a great deal of talking up his own project, Stardust."</em></p><p>Thrawn's hands clenched on the desk, nails scraping the surface just slightly.</p><p>"The Death Star—" he spat, using its secret code name instead of its public label, "—is a bloated, inefficient, and expensive waste of resources that could be put to <em>far</em> better use building up and fortifying the Imperial navy." Pryce was shuffling nervously at his open calling out of the project's failings but Thrawn only continued his impromptu tirade. "You will only create Rebels faster than you can kill them, should you use its supposed..." His eyes narrowed in skepticism. "...planet-destroying power."</p><p><em>"Until it delivers on its promised results, I'm inclined to agree with you," </em>Tarkin told him, nodding<em>. "However, that decision is not mine to make. The Emperor expects you within the next couple rotations. I have already arranged an audience so you can plead your case for the TIE Defender directly."</em></p><p>"The Emperor might be keen to know," Thrawn suggested, an icy tone in his voice, "that I have reasonable evidence to believe that Ezra Bridger has returned to Lothal, and is likely coordinating with the wider Alliance for a strike on the planet's shipbuilding factories."</p><p>There was no reaction from Tarkin, his face an immovable placid stone.</p><p><em>"He is aware,"</em> the man said.</p><p>"Then it should be evident to His Excellency how much I am needed here," Thrawn argued, "to stave off the Rebels' inevitable strike."</p><p>In the corner of his vision, Thrawn saw Pryce stir and move forward hastily.</p><p>"What the Grand Admiral means to say," she covered, leaning forward into the range of the holocamera, "is that the Emperor might appreciate the Admiral's efforts to protect His Excellency's assets and interests in Lothal."</p><p><em>"The Emperor has every confidence that you will be able to manage without the Grand Admiral's direct command and involvement, Governor," </em>Tarkin told her, glancing briefly in her direction.</p><p>She grimaced with chagrin, not quite so confident. Thrawn piped up once more to protest.</p><p>"It's a matter of importance that—"</p><p><em>"Let me ask you this, Grand Admiral," </em>Tarkin interrupted. Cold eyes leveled on the Chiss, with a look of severe scrutiny and judgment. <em>"Do you believe, at this moment, that the Rebels can defeat your forces?" </em>he asked pointedly.</p><p>Thrawn hesitated, reluctant to give the answer. Tensions warred on his face, flickers of conflict beneath the stoic surface.</p><p>At length, he admitted honestly, "...No."</p><p>Tarkin straightened. <em>"Then there should be no issue."</em> He assumed an air of professional formality. <em>"You shall leave immediately," </em>he relayed.</p><p>Thrawn's hands slowly relaxed on the desk. "Understood, Governor," he acknowledged, his voice a crisp, formal monotone again.</p><p>The transmission flickered out.</p><p>The Grand Admiral sat for a moment, his face impassive and undreadable.</p><p>Then he stood, and Pryce quickly came to attention as he paced around the side of the desk. He didn't look at her, staring off towards the monolith of Sabine's graffiti, one wrist clasped in the other hand behind his back.</p><p>He could feel the strain in her as she waited for him to speak.</p><p>"You know the general plan of defense I have made for when the Rebels' sortie attacks?" he asked her.</p><p>A flush of relief. Only the smallest of nervous wavers in her voice as she replied, "Of course, Grand Admiral. The fleet will face outwards towards the threat, light cruisers ahead of Star Destroyers. We deploy fighters to scatter them and steer them into the crossfire from our batteries," she recited. "And should any ships manage to slip through, a second wave of TIE fighters hidden in the cloud cover will ambush them."</p><p>He nodded. "Very good," he determined. He was pleased she had listened when he'd explained to her the strategy. He unclasped his wrist, bringing one hand up underneath his chin in consideration. For a long moment he thought through different possible outcomes for the as-of-yet unfought battle ahead, a battle that he would unfortunately not bear witness to or direct, but must assure the outcome even so.</p><p>A thought flickered through his head.</p><p>"I'm sending an associate of mine to assist you," he determined, pulling his hand down from his chin. "A Noghri assassin, very highly skilled in tracking." Satisfaction pooled through him as he spoke. "He will aid you in tracking down the remaining escapees from the Rebel encampment."</p><p>Pryce stiffened indignantly. "I hardly require any help," she grumbled.</p><p>"That you allowed Ezra Bridger and his friends to slip by our forces suggests otherwise," he clipped back with a biting edge to his monotone, glancing over his shoulder at her.</p><p>She looked appropriately shame-faced.</p><p>"I suggest you return to the Capitol, Governor," he said casually, clasping his hands behind him again. "Await my agent's arrival and remember what I have told you about Jedi altruism. The <em>Chimaera </em>will depart as soon as you leave."</p><p>She hastened to nod. "At once, Grand Admiral."</p><p>The woman dismissed herself, her footsteps trailing off back into the access hallway, the hiss of the door sounding and leaving his office quiet once more.</p><p>Thrawn seethed in the direction of one of the holoprojections; an image of a young Bridger, dressed in a white cadet's uniform. His gaze bore into the image as if he could inflict psychic damage on it just by staring.</p><p>It was irritating to have to leave right when his prize had made itself known. But the Rebels would not leave Lothal again, of that he was certain.</p><p>They would stay. They would fight.</p><p>And Lothal would be their tomb.</p><p>He would make sure of it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mwah-ha-ha, have some chapter notes, my gremlins.</p><p>1. Thrawn's slow villainous breakdown continues! It is a delight to write him slowly fraying out and losing his cool, let me tell you. But of course I wanted to balance that against his usual stoic calm and clinical logic because he's not at the breaking point... <i>yet</i>.</p><p>He might need to check himself on that obsession with Ezra though, that can't be good for him.</p><p>2. A major deviation from canon this time—Thrawn will be <i>absent</i> for the planned Rebel assault. I can only say that I am looking very forward to those chapters (because I have a feeling it's going to take at least two to cover all the action).</p><p>3. I love <i>Rogue One</i> but I also still have a soft spot for the original way they learned about the Death Star, as per the Star Wars radio drama, with "Death Star" being its secret code name that wasn't supposed to be known to anyone, well, not in the know. Leia accidentally gives herself away at a private dinner with her father and a major high-up Imperial officer when she calls it by name in the middle of an angry rant against its existence (aforementioned Imperial officer had decided to brag about it). So I kept that, in a way. The public project name is still "Stardust" (and even that's pretty secretive), but the name it goes by behind closed doors is "Death Star". Best of both worlds.</p><p>And exit stage left Thrawn, with Ruhk coming in to cause problems on purpose I'm sure. I hope to get the next chapters out quickly. Things are going to be really moving soon.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Into The Inferno</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The crew waits for the attack on the TIE factories to come.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Boy oh boy oh boy are we in for a ride today! :D</p><p>I can't even contain myself, I'm just gonna get out of the way and let you get to it. Enjoy, dear readers!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ezra stood at the railing, eyes trained on the horizon, scanning through the macrobinoculars for any sign of Imperial patrols. The pipes and treads of the crawler churned idly behind him. They'd captured it yesterday, seeking to commandeer its long-range transmitter and tell the Alliance the good news; that the <em>Ghost</em> had picked up the departure of the <em>Chimaera </em>from Lothal's airspace, a fact they had confirmed once in possession of the crawler and its transmitter.</p><p>They'd been in a frenzy of activity since, coordinating, comparing intel. Now it was just a waiting game to see when the signal to strike would come.</p><p>Ezra lowered the macrobinoculars a moment, exhaling softly, tingling with anticipation.</p><p>It was finally happening. Finally, they were going to free Lothal!</p><p><em>And not a moment too soon, either</em>, Ezra thought, sober notes creeping through him.</p><p>While tuning the transmitter they had picked up an Imperial announcement, broadcasting on all local frequencies. Pryce had spoken, warning that summary and random executions of suspected Rebels or Rebel sympathizers would begin the next day and continue daily until the leadership of the cell turned themselves in.</p><p>Ezra had been startled to be addressed directly, his blood turning to ice as Pryce's voice called his name over the transmission.</p><p>
  <em>"Each day you fail to surrender yourself to Imperial custody, Bridger, is another life on your hands. Ask yourself honestly, are you willing to let these people die for you?"</em>
</p><p>Ezra gripped the macrobinoculars tighter, remembering the cold pool of terror that had swelled inside his stomach at her threat. He'd trembled openly, distress and dismay locked on his features until a sharp comment from Ryder snapped him out of it.</p><p>"She's baiting you," the former governor had said, barking in a tone that told Ezra there would be no negotiating the matter. "She knows you Jedi have a weak point about civilian lives and she's trying to use that to cripple us." A firm shake of the man's head. "We can't surrender to her. Don't let her threats get to you."</p><p>It hadn't reassured him then, and it didn't reassure him now. Only the knowledge that the attack was coming, would be there today if all went well, kept Ezra from spiraling apart into guilt and self-blame and anxiety over standing by while Pryce murdered his people.</p><p>Ezra exhaled carefully, shaking off his unease. <em>The attack is coming</em>, he reminded himself. <em>She won't get the chance to execute </em><em><strong>anyone</strong></em>.</p><p>Footsteps on the landing made him glance back, to see Sabine coming to join him. She stepped up next to him, leaning her arms on the rail.</p><p>"Anything?" she asked.</p><p>He shook his head. "Skies are pretty clear." He crossed his arms, stepping back a bit and surveying the cloudline with his eyes. "Only seen a couple birds. If the Empire's looking for us, they're not trying very hard."</p><p>She was looking at him with a certain knowing concern in her eyes. "You nervous?" she asked. "I know Pryce's broadcast rattled you up a bit."</p><p>Ezra's mouth twitched with a grim smile. "I was kind of hoping to never have to hear her voice outside of my nightmares again," he admitted. He was quiet for a moment, then seemed to find a conviction inside him, his spine straightening. "Whatever threats she made don't matter," he said, firm-toned and fire in his eyes. "We're liberating Lothal today. She won't be in power much longer."</p><p>Sabine's face twisted. "Now, hold up a second," she said, gesturing cautiously with a palm. "We're going to try to disable and destroy the TIE factory so that the Empire can't make any Defenders, and the Alliance retains fighter superiority. That's a <em>far</em> cry from liberating a whole planet," she chided him.</p><p>Ezra shrugged, giving a grin. "Well we have to start somewhere," he quipped.</p><p>She gave an amused huff, shifting her balance to another leg. "Your optimism is cute," she told him.</p><p>"When you're facing a seemingly insurmountable task, sometimes all you can do is break it down into what you <em>can </em>do, and do that," he commented.</p><p>Sabine chuckled low in her throat, impressed by the maturity in the statement. "Who told you that?" she asked.</p><p>The vision in the caverns of Ilum seemed to flit through the back of his head. But he only replied, enigmatically, "A friend."</p><p>Their gaze held for a pregnant moment. Sabine was the first to break eye contact, eyes dropping towards the space between them, suddenly hesitant.</p><p>"Ezra..." she started, significantly. "I—"</p><p>A loud whoop from behind interrupted her, and both of them heard heavy metal footfalls leaning out from the bridge as Zeb called excitedly to them.</p><p>"Sabine! Ezra! Incoming transmission from Yavin!" he yelled.</p><p>They met eyes again, lighting up, holding that moment of exhilaration before whirling around one after another and trumping down the gangway to the ladder, which they swiftly ascended back up to the bridge level.</p><p>Zeb gestured them quickly through the door, where they dashed inside and hastened to join Kallus and Kanan around the speaker.</p><p>"The attack?" Ezra asked anxiously.</p><p>Kanan nodded. "Rebel Command just authorized it."</p><p>He and Sabine shouted in triumph, flinging elated arms around each other and dancing in place for a few moments.</p><p>"When are they coming?" Sabine asked breathlessly as she pulled away first, and a young familiar voice answered her from the comm.</p><p><em>"We're fueling up ships right now,"</em> Mart told her. <em>"They think we'll exit hyperspace at eighteen-hundred local time."</em></p><p>Ezra's grin could have cracked his face. "Don't keep us waiting," he joked.</p><p>Kallus, meanwhile, was having an entirely different reaction to hearing the Ensign's voice.</p><p>"Mattin, <em>please</em> tell me you are <em>not</em> taking part in the attack," he begged wearily, stress lines all over his face.</p><p>It was Gooti who answered this time. <em> "They needed volunteers and, well, we all volunteered," </em>she explained.</p><p>That only made Kallus sputter more. "Since when are you and Jonner <em>pilots?!</em>" he cried.</p><p>
  <em>"Mart's been teaching us."</em>
</p><p>"Who authorized your involvement?!" Kallus was close to screeching now, hysterical. "Get a superior on the line, I want to talk to them!"</p><p>Kallus's demands were drowned out as Ezra and Sabine talked excitedly with their friends, trading suggestions for how and where they could meet up after everything was through and Zeb chuckled behind them, entirely too amused by everything.</p><p>Kanan slowly moved to the door, unseen, slipping out quietly while no one was looking.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>He found Hera underneath the console of the <em>Ghost</em>'s bridge, furiously working on something, her signature tight with contained irritation and tools scattered on the floor all around her that Kanan almost tripped over as he walked up to nudge her legs.</p><p>"Attack's been authorized," he told her.</p><p>"I heard," she said tersely, not pulling her head out from under the console.</p><p>Kanan tilted his head, listening to the winching and bolt twisting that was coming from below for a moment, confused as to what she was even doing. It didn't sound like regular maintenance.</p><p>"Something the matter?" he asked her.</p><p>Hera gave a sigh. The odd noises beneath the console stopped, and a scraping sound let him know the Twi'lek pilot was pulling herself out from under the panel.</p><p>There were a couple soft footfalls as she stood up.</p><p>"I should be out there with them, leading the attack," she complained quietly. The feel of the displaced air as she gestured made Kanan think she still had a wrench or hydrospanner in her hands. "I know how to run a blockade better than anyone," she said.</p><p>Kanan reached out for her, finding her shoulders and placing placating hands there.</p><p>"There'll still be plenty for the <em>Ghost</em> to do down here," he reassured her. "We might even have a better shot at the factory than the attack team," he quipped lightly.</p><p>She didn't share in the joke, and Kanan sobered, reading her mood and chewing on his lip.</p><p>"Hera, what's wrong?" he asked.</p><p>The worry he could sense in her reverberated a moment, before she seemed to get a handle on it. She exhaled softly.</p><p>"I just... I can't help feeling like Thrawn has left some nasty surprises for us," she confessed, her voice lined with strained tension. "He always seems to be one step ahead of us. I don't know if him not being here is enough of an advantage for us to win today," she told him, her free hand coming up and placing itself on his arm, seeking reassurance.</p><p>"We won't know unless we try," Kanan said, reaching up and covering her hand with his own, somberly.</p><p>He could feel her verdant eyes on him, looking earnestly into his face, even if he couldn't see it.</p><p>"Whatever happens today," she said, "know that... I wouldn't choose to face it with anyone else but you."</p><p>Warmth moved through his heart. "I know," he said, leaning in toward her face.</p><p>She let him capture her lips, melting into his kiss with fervent emotion that swelled and filled the small cabin around them.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Hyperspace was quiet until it erupted with a series of bursts, ships dropping out of it rapidly until the attack force was fully present, guns bristling and pilots eager and ready to fight.</p><p><em>"Stars, look how many ships they have in orbit!"</em> Gooti breathed breathlessly in his earpiece. <em>"You'd think they were guarding the Imperial palace itself!"</em></p><p>Mart adjusted his targeting computer and regripped his yoke. "Let's stay focused, guys," he told his squadmates. "This is going to need all we've got."</p><p>The squad leader barked orders into their comm headsets.</p><p><em>"Phoenix Remnant Two and Three,"</em> he said, <em>"stay tight on me until we reach their outer defenses. Red Group, engage enemy fighters and buy our bombers an opening to get through."</em> A brief pause. <em>"Remember, once we break through the blockade, we make straight for Capitol City."</em></p><p>Mart nodded. "Copy Red Leader," he said.</p><p>He nudged forward on the throttle, accelerating his fighter to attack speed and beelining straight for the wall of Imperial ships that spread out before him.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Fighters clashed, red and green bolts meeting in a furious flurry, starcraft weaving in and out as they dodged their imminent death.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>"How's it going down there?" Hera commed to her team on the ground, checking in once more just to reassure herself.</p><p><em>"We're planting the explosives on the last anti-air tower now," </em>Ezra reported.</p><p>Easing the <em>Ghost</em> forward in the air, Hera gave a nod of satisfaction. The plan was solid and pulling off smoothly; Ezra and the others were tagging the anti-fighter cannons around Capitol City with bombs, to disable them in advance of the attack team breaking through the blockade, assuming they could. Hera was standing by to swoop in and deal with any tanks and walkers the Empire deployed, meet up and escort the bombers to the factory and fuel depot. The brand-new fuel depot seemed the better target to her, less chance of them accidentally killing civilian workers alongside Imperial mechanics, but the Alliance wasn't leaving anything to chance. If they had a shot at the factories, they were to take it.</p><p>From the chatter she could occasionally pick up through the Empire's jamming, the fighters sounded to be holding up well. Mart and Gooti and Jonner's voices cut through the static, detailing fragments of the dogfight happening far above their heads. A chunk of fighters, a mixed group of Yavin veterans and Phoenix group survivors it sounded like, had managed to disable one of the Star Destroyers in the formation and were using the opening to rush through the blockade, several X-wings hanging back to defend the splinter from enemy fighters and bombardment.</p><p>So why did she feel a constant unease churning through her stomach?</p><p>Hera glanced aside at Kanan, trying to read his expression and see if he felt the same kind of apprehension. His face was almost undreadable behind the mask but from the firm pinch of his mouth she guessed that his eyes were closed and he was immersed in the Force, sensing out, his hands tight on his legs where he sat.</p><p>He seemed to feel her gaze and her silent question, glancing towards her but making no comment.</p><p>Hera stirred herself, shaking off her paranoia and trying to focus, calling down between her feet to the nose gun station where Kallus was.</p><p>"How's it look down there?" she asked. "Any unfriendlies?"</p><p><em>"None," </em>he replied, his voice magnified by the internal comms, sounding a bit disturbed by the fact. Hera glimpsed him shifting back in his gunner seat. <em>"At least, not that I can see."</em></p><p>Hera settled back into her seat, comforted by that knowledge. "You don't sound too happy about that," she teased, small grin stealing its way onto her face.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Down in the nose turret, Kallus frowned, staring at his sensor readouts with a perturbed wrinkle between his eyes. This close to Capitol City they should at least be picking up the occasional patrol but there was absolutely nothing on his scopes, not even a distant blip.</p><p>It was... odd in a way that gave him pause.</p><p>"Well it's not..." He trailed off, struggling to find the words to explain. "It's not standard protocol for... for patrols to just cease circulating," he said.</p><p><em>"You think they know our attack is coming?"</em> asked Kanan over the speakers.</p><p><em>"I'm sure they know on some level," </em>Hera dismissed. Her voice turned serious and lost the playful edge as she announced, <em>"We're coming up on the anti-air turret perimeter."</em></p><p>Where Ezra and Sabine and the rest were there with Ryder, planting the explosives to take out the turrets. Kallus knew their mission was a crucial part of the overall operation—the fighters would never reach the fuel depot in the Capitol if they were shot down by the city's anti-fighter defenses after all—but Kallus couldn't help but feel a bit useless, stuck in his usual post up in the <em>Ghost</em>'s nose gun while his young charges risked their lives in the skies above.</p><p>His thoughts kept drifting to them. He strained his ears upwards for any snatches of their voices that made it through the Empire's strong jamming, reassuring himself every five seconds that they were okay, they were still alive and making their way into atmosphere.</p><p>He could almost dismiss his fretting as the tics of a nervous parent but then something caught his eye on the targeting computer display.</p><p>Kallus squinted, preening his eyes at the electronic readout.</p><p>In-between flickers that stretched and distorted the lines of the readout, the sensors seemed to register an inordinate amount of blips and bogeys, clustered tightly together on the left side of the screen.</p><p>"Captain Syndulla?" he called, leaning forward and adjusting his instruments, eyes and mouth pursed. "I'm picking up something odd off in our periphery. Multiple contacts, unknown."</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Hera could see them too, pulsing on the sensor display. She frowned. Keeping one eye on the readout, she glanced forward out the viewport towards the line of towers off in the distance, little metal lumps on the horizon.</p><p>She thought for a moment, considering, feeling an itch travel up her spine, her instincts tingling.</p><p>She made her decision.</p><p>She clicked the comms on. "Go ahead and blow the towers, Spectre 5," she ordered. "I have to divert course for a moment, check something out."</p><p><em>"Copy, Spectre 2,"</em> Sabine acknowledged.</p><p>Hera watched the first couple towers flare up as she slowly turned the freighter.</p><p>"Chopper, pull all power to the forward deflectors and keep that signal scrambler cycling," she continued, reaching up and flicking a few switches.</p><p><em>"WOMP!"</em> he blorted, wheels squeaking against the metal floor as he scurried to comply.</p><p>Kanan had shifted in his seat, leaning over closer to her shoulder, almost hovering.</p><p>"Talk to me, Hera," he whispered.</p><p>She bit her lip, her hands worrying on the yoke. "Something's odd," she said. "I know you sense it too."</p><p>His frown was a silent agreement, and he leaned back upright again, perching on his seat like a tensed ground animal listening for rustles in the grass.</p><p>Hera turned her eyes forward, watching the cluster on the sensor display grow slowly closer.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Sabine groaned in frustration, shoving up the rangefinder on her helmet.</p><p>"Argh, one of the bombs didn't blow!" she complained, half-straddling her getaway speeder as she watched with the group from their vantage point on the plain, clear of the detonations. She ground her teeth inside her head, glaring at the still-standing tower at the end of the line. It had buckled, it was definitely no longer upright, leaning heavily to one side, but it hadn't collapsed like the others, its guns still pointed up towards the sky and, most disappointingly, still functional. Sabine crossed her arms sourly, wishing she had had loaded her jetpack with a pop rocket. "Must've been a dud," she grumbled.</p><p>Ezra stepped up next to her, confidently grinning. "I got it," he promised, planting his feet and reaching out a hand.</p><p>His eyes slipped closed and his breathing steadied. He stretched across the distance with the Force, mental fingers tracing along the sides of the tower, sliding down, down, finding the faulty detonator attached to the side and looking for the two capsules of explosive within.</p><p>He squeezed the containment chambers just a bit...</p><p>
  <em>BLAM!</em>
</p><p>The capsules broke apart, the two reactive substances hitting each other and igniting, blowing apart the detonator and completing the demolition of the tower, cracking the base and sending it crashing to ground.</p><p>Sabine's eyes widened, impressed, and Zeb gave a low whistle behind them.</p><p>"That's a trick I could stand to see more of," Sabine commented. The grin she wore faltered as she glanced towards Ezra, and saw that he was taking no pride in his feat, was staring off towards the clouds, his eyes fixated and serious.</p><p>He barely even heard her when she took a step closer, reaching out a hand to touch his arm in concern.</p><p>"Ezra?"</p><p>The boy inhaled slowly, unable to find the words to describe the rising cold static creeping up from his stomach, as the Force filled him with a slow premonition of dread.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>
  <em>"Could they be ships?"</em>
</p><p>The question bounced around inside her skull for a few moments. Hera considered the theory with some flat disbelief. "That many?" She shook her head, her lekku bouncing off her shoulders. "That's not possible, unless they recalled every TIE fighter from every garrison within—"</p><p>She stopped, a harsh twist squeezing her heart, freezing the blood in her veins.</p><p>The lack of TIE patrols made a sudden, horrifying sense.</p><p>Kanan jerked forward, panic in his face and voice as he grabbed the yoke and yanked it to the side.</p><p>"Hera!" he cried, almost in tandem with the emerald laser volley that spewed from the clouds straight at their cockpit.</p><p>"<em>Shavit!</em>" Hera cursed, sending them into a dive.</p><p>Chopper screeched in alarm as the freighter swerved, but the forward deflectors held, the stray shots that hit them pinging off harmlessly. Hera shoved Kanan off for better control, grinding the ship into a hard left turn.</p><p>Multiple TIE fighters emerged from the cloud cover. Five, then ten, only a handful of the swarm hiding within but more than enough to send the <em>Ghost </em>scurrying about in retreat. Hera's head was ringing with agitated stress, her nerves dancing like live wires, as she pushed the freighter's evasive abilities to the limit.</p><p>"Chopper, divert power to aft deflectors!" she yelled, over the multiple proximity warnings sounding shrilly on the dashboard.</p><p>Metal steps sounded as Kallus scurried up the ladder into the cockpit.</p><p>"I'll do more good in the turret!" he told her, lurching across the sloping deck and stumbling immediately out into the hallway.</p><p>She didn't argue, merely nodding at him in passing. She pushed the ship forward with all speed, watching out the periphery of her vision in dismay and horror as the bulk of the TIE swarm emerged from cover, rose to meet the descending Rebel attack team.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Hot blaster bolts sizzled in the <em>Ghost</em>'s wake, the handful of TIEs after the freighter methodically picked off one by one by precise shots from the turret until they were recalled by their commander.</p><p>"Concentrate your attention on those X-wings and Y-wings," he ordered. "We are not to let a single one through."</p><p>They obeyed, buzzing like stinging hornets around the quickly dwindling Rebel fighters.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>His hands clung to the rattling joystick like a lifeline, teeth gritted and shaking inside his head. One engine plumed smoke, the other sputtered uselessly through shredded turbines. It was all Mart could do to keep the ship from spiraling into a complete freefall.</p><p>Frantic radio chatter splashed on his unhearing ears.</p><p><em>"Maday, maday, I've lost my astromech unit</em> <em>—"</em></p><p>
  <em>"Phoenix Seven, pull up!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"This is Red Leader, is anyone still airborne?!"</em>
</p><p><em>"I'm hit! I can't make it</em> <em>—!"</em></p><p>A rumble of static flared in his earset and from the corner of his eye Mart glimpsed the fighter next to him exploding apart.</p><p>R3 beeped frantically as pieces pinged off their own craft, Mart pulling the crashing X-wing hard to the left to duck under the spinning remains of the other vessel's cockpit.</p><p>Mart tensed up, willing himself not to scream. When he was clear he strained his eyes for a glimpse of his friends.</p><p>"Jonner! Buddy, can you hear me? You hit?"</p><p>A shaky young voice answered. <em>"Yeah... but not bad. I... I think I can make it to the ground,"</em> he said, though there was quivering uncertainty in every word.</p><p>Mart's fingers flew across a row of switches on the dashboard. "Angle all deflectors forward, fire boosters and try to keep your nose up!" he instructed. "R3! Where's—?"</p><p><em>"They're all over me!"</em> Gooti screeched out, her starfighter swerving erratically above them. Mart could see at least four TIE fighters taking shots at her, and watched with mute terror, helmet pressed as far back against the headrest as it could and eyes straining straight up. <em>"I can't shake them!"</em></p><p>"Gooti—Gooti, cut your repulsors!" he cried, unable to do anything else. "Cut your repulsors, they're—"</p><p>A flurry of emerald shots punctured through her aft engine and Gooti screamed as her fighter began to plummet.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>The <em>Ghost</em> groaned as it finished setting down, the whine of the engine slowing and fading, its pitched notes cycling lower and lower until it silenced.</p><p>Wordlessly, the hatch popped open, the ramp lowering down, behind the speeders of the others at their designated rendezvous point. Hera was the first to run down, but Kallus wasn't far behind, both them spilling out of the freighter and turning frantic eyes up towards the airspace above Capitol City. Ezra, Sabine, Zeb, Ryder, and Jai were already watching, standing by their speeders, brows shadowed, feet rooted in place, stone-cold silent.</p><p>Kanan was the last one out, feeling his way along the wall until his feet found the ramp, feeling the cloud of dread rising from all of them.</p><p>A dozen small lights like shooting stars plumed across the dimming amber of the sunset, bright pieces falling off of some, smoke trailing behind others like a comet trail.</p><p>The entire attack force, struck from the sky.</p><p>Hera's shoulders shook as the breath shuddered in and out of her. Thrawn wasn't here, but his fingerprints were all over this trap. She felt nausea in her stomach at the thought of him hearing this news, the smug look on his face as he was brought the report of total Rebel annihilation.</p><p>Her fists closed tightly, gloves wringing around her fingers as she hated herself for not seeing this coming.</p><p>She glanced over the rest of her crew. Ryder's expression was one of grim resignation, his brows low and narrowed over his eyes as looked towards the city. Sabine's hands were wringing in her hair. Zeb's were clenched tight around the pair of macrobinoculars he held to his face. She couldn't see Ezra's expression but his back was tensed and he seemed frozen solid, like a block of ice.</p><p>Kallus fidgeted hysterically.</p><p>"Some..." he strained, his voice rasping on the way out of his throat. "Some ships made it down intact." He looked towards her, expression haunted. "There's still a chance we could retrieve survivors."</p><p>His word choice was clinical and detached, but Hera knew exactly what he meant, and against her better judgement found herself rushing into agreement, hot-blooded anger and worry and fear colliding inside her and galvanizing her resolve.</p><p>"We'd never make it to them," Ryder bit sharply, voice cynical. "That city is locked down tighter than a Corellian drum."</p><p>"There must be <em>some</em> way!" The ex-ISB was all but gasping, breaths thin and desperate, his feet staggering.</p><p>"The sewers." The comment had come from Ezra, who was stirring, whipping around. "Jai, you said they were only watching the main access ports right? Some of the smaller auxiliary tunnels might still be unguarded. We can get in that way—"</p><p>"And then do what, exactly?" Ryder demanded, face hot, fists clenched.</p><p>Even Jai was shaking his head in defeat. "Ezra... there are Stormtroopers <em>everywhere.</em>"</p><p>"Even if we get in, we'd have no way to find them," Zeb pointed out, lowering his macrobiconulars soberly.</p><p>But now Sabine was turning to face them. "If Chopper can get me access, I can slice the communications network, listen in on patrols."</p><p>"Now wait a minute—" Ryder started to protest.</p><p>Brown eyes looked plaintively at hers. "Hera, there has to be <em>something</em> we can do," she pleaded.</p><p>Hera held up a hand, tensing with stress. "Give me a minute," she said. "I'm... I'm thinking."</p><p>Kanan stirred. "Hera—"</p><p>"There's nothing to think about!" Ryder yelled, shrilly. "What you're asking is impossible!" he shouted at Kallus.</p><p>"That is <em>my squad</em> out there, do you understand?!" Kallus brayed back, anger slipping through his normal stoic control. "Those are <em>my kids</em>. I'm responsbile for them and if they've survived or perished I <em>have </em>to know!" He jabbed a finger, pointing towards the capitol. "If they're hurt, if they're captured, all I know is that they are <em>in there!</em>"</p><p>"Then they're as good as dead!" Ryder screamed back. "And that's assuming they even survived the crash!"</p><p>"They're alive," Ezra interrupted. Both men to turned to look at him. Hera saw conviction in his eyes as he stood there, mouth firmed, eyes determined. "They're alive, and they need our help."</p><p>Boots crunched in the grass as Hera felt Kanan step up beside her.</p><p>"Ezra—" he started to say, and Hera braced for the long dissuasion speech even as her heart rebelled against it.</p><p>But Kallus rushed up to the man, making Kanan take an awkward step back, startled, as Kallus's hands wrung the front of his shirt.</p><p>"Please," Kallus begged, his face pale and gaunt, strained from every angle. "If—if anything happens to those kids I..."</p><p>He trailed off, but Hera saw the understanding and sympathy settle into Kanan's posture, the recognition of what he must be feeling.</p><p>Kanan turned his attention past the man, toward his apprentice, whose blue eyes burned stubbornly.</p><p>"They came for me, Kanan," Ezra pointed out, voice quiet.</p><p>There was conflict on the Jedi's face for a long moment before he rolled his face up with an aggravated groaning sigh.</p><p>"All right," he aquiesced. "Let's... let's take a moment and see what we have to work with."</p><p>Zeb and Sabine exchanged a look, but obediently stepped over and joined the cluster.</p><p>Ryder gaped at them. "You can't be serious."</p><p>When no one responded, he smeared a hand down his face.</p><p>"You're all crazy. I won't have any part of this." He turned stiffly on his heel and walked the short distance to his own speeder.</p><p>Jai stopped him, putting hands on the handlebars so he couldn't take off, glaring mightily.</p><p>Ryder considered the silent challenge a moment, then glanced back towards the <em>Ghost</em> crew. "We'll hit the perimeter blockades at as many points as we can, cause a distraction." His eyes warned Jai sternly. "But that's <em>all</em>. Once you're in the city, you're on your own."</p><p>Jai nodded and let go of the handlebars. He nodded at Ezra as Ryder leaned forward and gunned the bike behind him.</p><p>"Good luck," he said earnestly.</p><p>Hera watched the boy go, swinging a leg over his own speeder. She came up to Ezra, putting gentle hands on his shoulders right before he sagged, the fire leaving him, now clearly showing his worry and apprehension.</p><p>"You know Capitol City better than any of us, Ezra," she whispered encouragingly in his ear. "What's our move?"</p><p>She felt him shuddering as he took in his next breath, ready to speak.</p><p>Quietly, she pulled him into the circle.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mwah-ha-ha-ha have some chapter notes.</p><p>1. A very "now or never", "calm before the storm" sort of feel for the Ezra/Sabine and Kanan/Hera scenes at the beginning. Tried for a mix of Minas Tirith before the siege and the love-confession-before-the-coming-battle from BioWare's <i>Jade Empire</i>.</p><p>2. Ezra continues to use Shatterpoint to great effect. Such skill. Much proud.</p><p>3. Kallus going into terrified Papa Wolf mode because his babies are in trouble is definitely recalling back to how this whole series started, with his desperation to help Ezra escape the <i>Chimaera</i> and save him from the Empire. It all comes full circle you see.</p><p>4. Ryder's cynicism, on the other hand, is a call forward to his doubts in the Season Four finale. Ye of little faith.</p><p>Cliffhanger ending! I'll let you scream at me about that for a week or two and then we'll see what the next chapter holds. I won't spoil but... <i>shit gets real</i>. Hope to see you then!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Ashes And Smoke</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Rebels infiltrate Captitol City to attempt a harrowing rescue.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A Sunday afternoon upload this week instead of a Saturday morning one because, funny story (not-so-funny actually), my computer decided to blip off and lose all my unsaved work while I was writing yesterday. And it was literally the last scene that I had to finish before uploading. So <i>very</i> frustrating, lemme tell you.</p><p>But in any case, it is here now! AND BOY I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS ONE.</p><p>A little bit crowbarish, so warning for major and minor injuries and some blood, and general PTSD symptoms on Ezra's part.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was a persistent ringing in his ears as his head pulled out of the murky darkness.</p><p>He groaned, his skull throbbing, pain reverberating around inside him. It felt like someone had grabbed him by the ankle and shaken him like a ragdoll.</p><p>Slowly, his thoughts pieced together one by one.</p><p>His spine and shoulders hurt. Stabbing feeling in his arm. Smell of smoke tickling his nose. An insistent beeping that sounded concerned.</p><p>Mart pried his eyes open. His vision wouldn't unblur for a few moments; he blinked hard several times until the cockpit of his X-wing came into focus.</p><p>The dashboard was dead. The yoke was crooked, stuck at an awkward angle. Mart lifted his head, the movement making him <em>ache.</em></p><p>The worried beeping came again, and he recognized that it was coming from the astromech socket behind him.</p><p><em>"Wrr-wr?"</em> R3-A3 called to him.</p><p>"Yeah..." Mart replied, pressing a hand against his visor, willing the sparks dancing in front of his eyes to go away. "I can hear you."</p><p>Another anxious question from the droid.</p><p>"I'm okay. I think," Mart answered. He slowly tested his limbs out. "At least, nothing feels like it's broken." He hissed through his teeth. "Hurts everywhere though." He glanced up to continue assessing.</p><p>The nose of his craft was dug into the stones of the street, mangled from the impact. His windshield was cracked, and smoke still poured from the ruined engines. Flames were beginning to lick up the side of his craft.</p><p>It hurt to move, but Mart pushed past his discomfort, pushing up with his palms on the cockpit windshield and shoving it up, with effort.</p><p>Bits of transparisteel fell out as it locked into upright position.</p><p>"Come on," he urged R3, finding the rims of the cockpit and pulling himself out of it. "We gotta move. Stormtoopers'll be here any second."</p><p>R3 chirped in agreement, detaching himself from his socket and giving himself a little boost down to the street. Mart struggled to slide down the angled hull, carefully maneuvering himself down until he could drop.</p><p>His ankle buckled as he landed; Mart bit his lip and screwed his face, whimpering with a pained grunt. Definitely sprained. He couldn't tell if had happened in the crash or just now. He reached out a hand for R3, leaning on the droid's dome for support, as he looked quickly around at their surroundings.</p><p>The dimly-lit commercial street was deserted. Debris was scattered under the body of his crashed X-wing. The echoing voices of Stormtroopers were starting to filter around the corners, murmuring, undefined.</p><p>Mart picked a direction at random and stumbled away.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>He stopped for a moment at a corner junction, scanning down each street. Smoke rose over the buildings from somewhere to his left, another crash site maybe. But the sound of tank repulsors was between him and it, and coming his way quickly.</p><p>Mart cast eyes about. There was one building with stark white light in its windows off a ways down the street; the rest were dark.</p><p>Mart squinted at it, then his eyes widened with a tingle, seeing the long antenna rising from the building.</p><p>An Imperial listening station.</p><p>He crouched down and singled to R3, pointing towards the open door of the building. The droid beeped a quiet affirmative and then both of them slunk low to the ground towards it, creeping, out of line of sight of the windows. Mart's ankle complained at him for every step but he set his teeth and ignored it.</p><p>R3 slipped inside first, and with a quick prod zapped the single attendant and stunned him into unconsciousness. The limp body fell out of its seat and onto the floor. Mart straightened up as he trotted in, head vibrating, hands flying across the console as he adjusted the broadcasting frequency, trying not to think about the fact that he was alone in hostile territory, that he didn't know where anyone else was or if they were still alive, that he could hear walkers and tanks patrolling nearby, that the inert technician lying prone on the floor couldn't have been that much older than him...</p><p>Nimble fingers worked at the panel and his throat tightened up on a breath as he opened the channel and prayed someone was listening.</p><p>A light on the dashboard blipped on to indicate the channel was open.</p><p>Mart took a shaky inhale.</p><p>"Ph-Phoenix Two to Phoenix Three, come in."</p><p>No response at first.</p><p>"Phoenix Two to Red Group," Mart called again, a little shriller. "Can anyone hear me?"</p><p>Wavering static on the line. Then—</p><p><em>"Mart?"</em> a quivering female voice answered.</p><p>Relief sagged out of him in a shuddering, shaky breath, and Mart blinked away the blur he hadn't even noticed was gathering under his eyes. "Gooti..." he strained. "I'm... I'm so glad to hear you... Are you okay?" he asked.</p><p><em>"Yeah..." </em>she wavered, a warble in her voice that could have been emotion, or maybe just the poor connection. <em>"Jonner and I both made it to ground," </em>she explained. <em>"But he's hurt awful bad... I can't do much without bacta."</em></p><p>R3 whirred somberly. Mart reached over and pat the droid on his head in reassurance.</p><p><em>"Debris got me in the stomach,"</em> Jonner piped in, sounding labored and pained.<em> "Not the worst injury I've had... Still not fun though,"</em> he managed to quip.</p><p>"Are we the only ones left?" Mart asked, looking up a moment out the window, leaning to listen out the door and check on the sound of the patrols.</p><p><em>"Red Six made it down, I think, a couple blocks from where I crashed," </em>Gooti said. <em>"But I think he got captured."</em></p><p>Mart adjusted a dial on the console, widening the range of transmission, trying to hook a particular coded frequency. "Where are you right now?" he asked, motioning for R3 to plug into the data port.</p><p><em>"Residential district, on the south side of the Dome. I think we're close to some kind of repair bay for landspeeders. Coordinates, uh..."</em> She paused a moment as she checked, then rattled off the string to him.</p><p>Mart repeated the coordinates to himself inside his head, glancing anxiously out the window as headlights slowly turned around a corner into his street. "Okay, I think I broke past the Empire's jamming, sending your coordinates to anyone listening on the Lothal cell comms."</p><p>He nodded at R3, who beeped as the transmission was sent.</p><p>
  <em>"We can't stay here, patrols are gonna come by any second."</em>
</p><p>One was gliding down the street right now where he was, in fact. Mart ducked a bit lower, trying not to be seen through the windows, whispering low into the open line.</p><p>"Okay, then... head for the outskirts," he told her. "Try and find a sewer access hatch, Ezra said they've been using those to sneak into the city."</p><p><em>"All right, we're moving,"</em> she promised. <em>"Mart? Good luck."</em></p><p>"You too," he said, then switched off the transmitter. He leaned back on his feet, crouched behind the panel.</p><p>His toes scritched on the floor as he turned around and then froze.</p><p>The young technician was awake, sitting up and staring wide-eyed straight at him.</p><p>Panic locked Mart's limbs. His heart rattled inside his chest, knocking against his sternum with a heavy rhythm. The two boys stayed paralyzed in that moment.</p><p>Slowly, shaking the whole time, Mart began to raise desperate, placating hands.</p><p>The technician's eyes flicked towards the door, towards the patrol moving outside.</p><p>"Don't." The word came out as a rushed whisper, frantic and pleading. Mart fumbled under his chin a moment, grabbing the brim of his helmet and sliding it off, dropping it to the side as his head whispered <em>Please please please</em>. "Don't, see?" he said. "See? I'm not armed. I'm not gonna hurt—"</p><p>The other boy's head whipped towards the opening.</p><p>"Troopers!" he shouted. "Troopers, in here!"</p><p>The panic almost strangling him, Mart lurched up and stumbled out of the listening station, R3 on his heels.</p><p>He didn't get three steps before his ankle collapsed him to the ground, radiating pain through his leg that made him whimper. His hands pushed his torso up weakly as he looked up at the arriving patrol in dismay. One large floating troop transport hung in front of him like a looming predator.</p><p>R3 rolled protectively in front of him as a trio of Stormtroopers approached, electric prod out and brandishing threateningly.</p><p><em>"Wrr-wrr!"</em> the little droid threatened, making jabbing motions towards the troopers' shins.</p><p>Mart shook as the troopers closed in.</p><p>"Capture the droid," one of them ordered another. "We need its memory banks."</p><p>R3 spat an insult at that, a binary curse Mart was pretty sure he'd learned from Chopper, the sparks from his prod arcing sharper and longer.</p><p>"Just immobilize it," the other trooper groaned in aggravation, pointing his blaster.</p><p>And then, before Mart's eyes, three blue stun shots were fired directly into the barrel of the astromech's chassis.</p><p><em>"No!" </em>he cried as R3 shrieked with a dying binary wail, toppling over as the sparks shorted him out. Panels and tools popped limply open as the droid's display lights flickered off.</p><p>Mart swallowed dryly, his hands hovering helplessly over his friend. A numb feeling was icing up the hollow spaces in his chest, leaving him feeling cold in his core.</p><p>One of the troopers came forward, voice and posture bored. "All right, stand up," he ordered, motioning with his blaster. He stood over the boy, still motionless over the body of the droid, his head down. "Put your hands behind your—"</p><p>Mart moved suddenly, a surge of adrenaline springing him to his feet. He grabbed the trooper's blaster in both hands, twisting the barrel away, bringing his knee up into the trooper's groin.</p><p>As the Stormtrooper grunted in pain and doubled-over, Mart shoulder-checked him, breaking his grip on his weapon, then drew his fist back and punched the man right in the ear of his helmet.</p><p>He crumpled, and the other two pointed their blasters, getting off a couple shots before Mart finished them off, one—<em>blam! blam!</em>—and then the other—<em>blam!</em>—not even flinching as a laser bolt tore through his left arm.</p><p>He turned his stolen sidearm on the troop transport, firing continually at the cockpit window until the bolts punctured through and sounded a dying cry from the pilot inside.</p><p>Mart panted heavily when it was over, the blaster sagging in his hands limply, body vibrating with trembles.</p><p>He pressed a palm over his bleeding injury and hobbled away, stumbling as fast as he could away from the scene.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>"Receiving a coded transmission," Hera reported, her comlink held up close to her ear cone as she tried to listen.</p><p>Kanan tilted a listening ear towards her as he and Zeb attended the controls to the access hatch.</p><p>Hera took in the pattern of clicks and whistles, motioning with a hand for Chopper. "It sounds like... coordinates?" She bent down by the droid. "Chopper, tune into the secure channel, see if you can plot them."</p><p>Chopper's dish extended and whirred a moment, and then he blorted out a confirmation, holomap of Capitol City springing from his projector, two blinking dots appearing on the grid.</p><p>Hera stood back, fists going to her hips as she studied the map. "Looks like the last known locations of two of ours," she determined.</p><p>Kallus and Ezra both came over to look at the map with her. Ezra's eyes scanned over it quickly, and then he pointed.</p><p>"Here," he said, finding a spot on the grid relatively close to one of the blinking dots. "This is an auxiliary hatch I used to use a lot, comes up near an old fertilizer processing plant, so no one really watched it much."</p><p>"I'll take that one," Kallus volunteered.</p><p>"<em>We'll</em> take it," Zeb corrected, moving to stand by the agent's shoulder.</p><p>Ezra frowned down at the other blip. His hand hovered over the map, searching.</p><p>"Closest access is this one," he said. He grimaced. "But that's a main hub, on a busy market street. Troopers are definitely gonna be guarding that one." His finger traced down the holographic line of the street. "We'll have to come up from this one instead, circle along the back alleys."</p><p>"This is of course, all assuming that the Empire hasn't fused those access hatches shut," Kanan grumbled, coming up to the huddle.</p><p>Ezra held up his lightsaber with a cheeky grin, igniting the blade briefly for Kanan's benefit. "You say that like it would be an issue."</p><p>"Getting through the hatches doesn't worry me," Hera told them, frowning with scrunched eyes at the holomap, seeming to stare past it. "Getting through the waves of Stormtoopers, walkers, and gunships that we're sure to encounter does." Her head lifted, turning slowly over her shoulder to consider the <em>Ghost</em> behind them in the rocks. "We might need air support," she mused.</p><p>Coming to a decision she straightened, facing forward again.</p><p>"Ezra, Sabine, I want you to take the <em>Ghost</em> and harass that landing platform here," she ordered, pointing to a spot between and to the south of the two blinking dots. "With any luck, that will lure away any patrols between us and our people."</p><p>"Really?" Ezra asked, trying to smother the excitement that was pulling at his mouth. "You're letting me fly the <em>Ghost</em>?"</p><p>"She never said <em>you </em>would be flying it, you numbskull," Sabine protested, whapping him behind his head. "You're not <em>that</em> great a pilot."</p><p>He rubbed his head with an offended look but didn't argue. Kanan, on the other hand, moved immediately between the two teens and Hera.</p><p>"If anyone should be flying the <em>Ghost</em> it's you, Hera," he argued.</p><p>She shook her head, her lekku flapping. "I'm going with you."</p><p>His teeth clenched slightly inside his jaw. "Hera—" he started.</p><p>She grabbed his face, earnestly. "I'm not sitting back and waiting to see if you're going to come out alive," she said sharply. She didn't know how else to explain the cold dread that clutched at her stomach, the horrible feeling that if she let him out of her sight it would be the last she saw him. "We do this together."</p><p>Kanan's face strained with worry. "Hera if anything happens to you..." He trailed off, attention turning down towards her stomach.</p><p>Hera set her mouth grimly. Maybe it <em>was</em> a bit irresponsible to go into combat carrying an innocent life, especially when she was trying to shield Ezra and Sabine by shoving them back in the relative safety of the <em>Ghost</em>. A compromise then.</p><p>"I'll stay under and hold the access hatch, if that makes you feel better," she offered. Her hand stroked along the line of his beard, feeling the rough prickles. "But we <em>all </em>go into danger, and come out alive, or none of us do," she emphasized. She lowered her voice to a whisper, breathing the words along his nose. "This child doesn't have a future if the Empire wins today..." she said, "...and I'll be damned if I let that happen."</p><p>The aggravated exhale of breath against her face told her that Kanan had decided not to fight her on the matter, yielding to her stubborn nature. He pulled back from her hands with a quiet, "All right."</p><p>Straightening with authority, he addressed all of them.</p><p>"Keep your comms on, but don't make contact unless you have no other choice. We wait for Ryder and the others to start the diversion before we move." He looked in Ezra and Sabine's direction first, "Watch each other's backs," he ordered. His attention drifted in Kallus and Zeb's direction. "Keep each other safe."</p><p>Ezra nodded. "May the Force be with you," he said.</p><p>Hera motioned for Chopper to follow as she, Kanan, Kallus, and Zeb moved to the open access hatch. Chopper flicked off his map, rolling over the weathered grasses and the dirt until it turned into the smooth metal of the long highway, the overhead lights now bright in the deepening darkness.</p><p>The Spectres slipped into the hatch, vanishing into the shadows.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Sabine was ready to turn around, head up the hill into the pillars where the freighter was, but stopped when she realized Ezra wasn't immediately trailing her. She frowned, watching him. He seemed deep in thought, staring off towards the horizon, where Capitol City glimmered hazily through the smog.</p><p>"Are you coming?" she asked.</p><p>He stirred, angling towards her. "Hera's got the right idea about us needing air support," he said. Sabine could see the gears in his head turning, the pinch between his eyes as he puzzled something out. "But the Empire's got way more TIEs and gunships than I think even the <em>Ghost</em> can handle."</p><p>Sabine chewed on her lip. He had a point. Hera herself would be hard-pressed against the force the Empire was capable of sending at them, and though both Ezra and Sabine were decent enough pilots, they were nowhere near her skill level. "What are you thinking?" she asked him.</p><p>His gaze was slightly absent, staring over her shoulder at the parked freighter. "We need a better ship," he concluded. Meeting her eyes he asked, "Where was that landing strip Ryder said he thought they were testing the new TIE Defender prototype?"</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>The stench of human waste and acrid scrubbing chemicals might have been distracting in some other circumstance—stars knew Kallus had <em>not</em> enjoyed his last foray into the Lothal sewers, to clean up the mess Gall Travis had made of their up-til-then impressive Imperial trap—but the man couldn't even smell it as he and Zeb took the tunnels deeper and deeper into the network, their feet tapping anxious rhythms against the quiet metal halls.</p><p>Kallus's face was pinched tight, and Zeb could hear the man gripping and ungripping his fists as they went, smell the stress hormones coming off of him. He didn't have to ask to know what was on Kallus's mind. He'd seen it plenty of times before, with Kanan, with Hera. Hell, Zeb himself had more than one occasion gone through the same, as part of the Honor Guard and after, with the younger members of the crew.</p><p>He knew <em>exactly</em> what kind of crippling worry must be crawling around inside Kallus's chest.</p><p>They had paused a moment in a junction to look for the next starbird, Kallus swiveling his flashlight around anxiously. Zeb adjusted his bo-rifle in his hands, freeing one hand to land on Kallus's shoulder encouragingly.</p><p>"Hey," he called, "they'll be all right. They're tough kids." He stepped back again. "Clever," he added. "Resourceful."</p><p>Kallus gave a strained sigh, his shoulders dropping, eyes leveling at the base of the hall. "Will that be enough, I wonder?" he said. His face looked absolutely haggard, deep lines creasing his skin. "I shouldn't have blown them off, before," he said miserably.</p><p>"There'll be time for regrets later," Zeb grunted, to stop the man's spiraling. "Right now, let's just get up there and get who we can out, eh?"</p><p>Kallus took a long, deep breath, raising his head again, a little more collected.</p><p>"You're right," he breathed. "This is no time for self-pity." He flicked his flashlight on the painted orange motif on the wall. "The access ladder looks to be that way," he said.</p><p>Zeb nodded and trotted along behind the man as he led the way around the corner to the alcove where the ladder up to street level was.</p><p>The alley above them sounded quiet. Hopefully it would remain that way.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Ezra's suggested exit point came up behind a low barricade, a wall cordoning off one section of the city from the other. Kanan, Hera, and Chopper stayed crouched behind it until they could hear distant explosions.</p><p>Several streets over, a patrol of Stormtroopers rushed quickly by, chattering into their comms about attacks on the city perimeter, multiple groups, on the south, the west, and the east.</p><p>Their footsteps faded as they hurried away, scrambling to reinforce the city borders.</p><p>Kanan turned his head towards Hera.</p><p>"For a cynic, Ryder's certainly putting a lot of effort into his distraction," he commented.</p><p>Hera smiled lightly, blaster in hand, pressing her shoulder against the barrier. "Coast is clear," she told him. She touched his shoulder briefly, a silent message to go. "Be safe," she said.</p><p>"I will," he promised.</p><p>Crouching low behind the barrier, Kanan moved off, slipping quietly through alleyways until he was out of her sight.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>The Imperial hanger was a strange mix of frenzy and calm, the atmosphere one of tense concentration and clipped order. Pryce stood stiff-backed in the center of it all, observing walkers departing and the troop transports flitting in and out, and tapping a fist impatiently against her thigh as she waited for information to come in.</p><p>A transport's repulsors puttered to her left. She turned and watched the craft slow to a crawl and stop, the hatch popping open as it settled.</p><p>A thin, gnarled gray creature with spindly limbs and short spines going up from the bridge of its nose to its hairless head stepped out, pushing an alien Rebel pilot in front of him with a polearm. The creature was dressed simply, only gauntlets and a shoulder bandolier for armor, and had a twitchy, feral way of moving that unnerved her.</p><p>Pryce flattened her mouth into a thin line as the Noghri pushed the Rebel pilot to his knees in front of her, presenting him like a trophy. She had to begrudgingly admit that Thrawn's assassin was very effective. Still, resentment burned in her as she met Ruhk's eerie luminescent eyes. The Noghri betrayed no emotion, his face in a permanent scowl.</p><p>Swallowing her pride, she motioned for troopers to come forward and collect the prisoner. "Well done, assassin," she said.</p><p>Ruhk nodded and stepped back as the troopers moved to take the Rebel pilot away.</p><p>A harried officer ran up to her, saluting briefly before launching into his speech.</p><p>"Governor! There are reports of several insurgent incursions at the city's perimeter barricades," he told her.</p><p>Pryce's frown deepened. The gears turned inside her head. She was no great strategist like Thrawn, but even she could recognize a pattern. "It's a diversionary tactic," she spat. "They've done it before—they're trying to lure our forces away from the city center so they can infiltrate and rescue their pilots." Straightening, she addressed the junior officer. "Reinforce the line but keep your focus on securing those crash sites," she ordered sternly. "And tighten the patrols, <em>nothing</em> slips through, do you understand?"</p><p>"Yes ma'am!" he said, clipping heels and putting hands behind him.</p><p>He rushed off and Pryce turned her attention to the next Stormtrooper demanding her attention, pointedly ignoring Ruhk and the keenly interested way he tilted his head, listening in.</p><p>"Governor Pryce, we've located another downed fighter, three blocks from the last one. No sign of the pilot but they couldn't have gotten far, blood spatter in the cockpit suggests they were injured." The trooper shifted briefly before he continued. "And IS-Station-56 in the East District reported a Rebel sighting; the pilot used the communications equipment to send a distress signal."</p><p>She nodded. "Have ISB see if they can backtrace the signal. Lock down the district and start a systematic sweep until you locate the Rebels."</p><p>Her eyes swept towards the Noghri, landing on him with a sneer.</p><p>"I trust that won't be too difficult for you," she said, tone vaguely sweet and sing-song, heavily implying for him to take command of the search.</p><p>A single downward jerk of his head. "It shall be done, Governor," he replied, in his raspy guttural growl.</p><p>Pryce felt a bit of relief as he turned and padded off behind the trooper patrol now hurrying to carry out her orders, though she couldn't say why. Anxiety coiled tight around her, as she turned back to the hanger bay and watched gunships load up and take off. Despite the self-reassurances she whispered to herself, the words she repeated over and over inside her head, nothing could quell the snaking static tingling on her nerves.</p><p>It was irrational. The attack had been prevented. The TIE factories were secure and undamaged. This was rightfully her victory.</p><p>So why did it feel as though as everything was on a razor's edge of falling apart?</p><p>She picked up a datapad, just for something to hold and have in her nervous hands.</p><p>Perhaps Thrawn's paranoia was beginning to wear off on her, she thought with a rueful twist of her mouth.</p><p>No matter. She'd have the Rebels in hand soon enough.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Two shadows crept through the Lothal streets, one clinging to the other, skittering around the pools of overhead light that passed by with every sweep of the rumbling gunships.</p><p>Jonner's breathing was a strained wheeze in her ear. Gooti clung to his arm, her hand tight on his wrist, keeping him supported over her shoulder, but he was growing heavier and heavier on her, as they both lost strength.</p><p>Still, she persisted, keeping them moving forward, step by limping step, eyes fixed straight ahead and not allowing herself to think about anything except getting to an access hatch.</p><p>She panted softly, her breath freezing as she brought them up short, waiting for the sound of running footsteps to fade.</p><p>It seemed to take a horribly long time.</p><p>Releasing the breath she'd been holding, Gooti resumed her anxious pace.</p><p>Jonner let out a harsh couple of coughs next to her. "Gooti..." he strained, his voice sounding like it was raking through nails and wire. "I don't... I don't know if I can keep going..."</p><p>"Don't say that," she cut him off. Her eyes darted around the street, trying to decide which way wouldn't lead them into instant death. "We're—we're almost there. We're gonna get you some help." She said the words almost more to reassure herself, because the longer they stumbled from street to street the louder an alarm inside her head was ringing, the twitchier her nerves got, and the harder she startled at every small noise, every slight shift of light.</p><p>She turned in a slow circle, searching for starbird symbols. Nothing but plain tan walls surrounded them.</p><p>So she made them keep moving.</p><p>She squeezed them through a narrow gap between two market stalls, spotting a small courtyard up ahead. A vague acidic smell was starting to waft through her nose. Some kind of industrial plant?</p><p>Before they reached the courtyard, Jonner sagged, almost dragging her down with him as his legs collapsed.</p><p>Gooti grunted under his weight, turning around and grabbing him under both armpits now.</p><p>"No no no no, Jonner, c'mon!" she cried, trying to drag him along the ground now. "C'mon we gotta keep going! You can't die on me now! Don't you <em>dare</em> die on me now!" she said shrilly.</p><p>His heels made two long skids on the ground before she couldn't pull him anymore.</p><p>She panted hard, desperation tingling around her head. She looked around frantically, searching for a place to hide as the low sound of Stormtrooper comm chatter started echoing down the street.</p><p>Crouching low, she pulled Jonner underneath one of the market stalls, shoving aside the thick canvas tarp to stow them under the wood table. She dropped the tarp back in place, shrouding them in darkness, one hand reaching down to press on the bloody wound in his abdomen. Blood seeped through her pink fingers and she fought down the urge to scream.</p><p>"Sorry Gooti..." he wheezed, his face pale and gray. "Sorry..."</p><p>"Shh," she shushed him, pressing harder, furiously staunching the long slash. Her head was blaring with alarms as the comm chatter and the puttering sound of a gunship came closer and then... something <em>else</em> sounded.</p><p>Slow padding footsteps. Not booted, like the Stormtroopers. Soft. Beast-like. Low snuffles like the thing was... <em>sniffing </em>for them.</p><p>Gooti bit her lip until it turned white, arms tightening around Jonner, listening to it coming closer and closer.</p><p>The footsteps sounded heavily on the pavement. The sniffing continued, inching towards their hiding place like a slow portent of doom. Gooti's body trembled and shook. A shadow slanted across the narrow strip of light coming from underneath the tarp flap and she pressed a hand tight over her mouth to hold in a frightened whimper, quivering hard, squeezing her eyes closed, stilling her breath and begging whatever gods were listening for it to pass, <em>Please please pass, </em>she thought desperately. <em>Please please please please...</em></p><p>The sniffing stopped sharply.</p><p>Gooti thought it was over for a moment but then—</p><p>A slow-growing engine roar screeched from a distance, moving fast, pitching higher and higher until turbolaser blasts erupted from somewhere close by.</p><p>The Stormtroopers shouted in alarm, barking orders at each other, and the shadow disappeared from the gap, running footsteps fading off down another street.</p><p>Gooti sobbed in relief, leaning over Jonner, her shoulders and chest shuddering.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>"What in the <em>world?</em>" Hera blurted, looking up over the city skyline to see the darting shape spinning and diving through the night air, dodging easily around the distant hovering gunships, flashes of green sparking around it.</p><p>Chopper made an analysis and then helpfully informed Hera of his conclusion.</p><p>"They stole the TIE Defender?!" Hera repeated incredulously. She stared wide-eyed in disbelief as the distant blip swerved and dodged around obstacles, moving faster than any fighter she'd ever seen. <em>That's the opposite of what I wanted them to do!</em> she thought furiously.</p><p>Chopper made a nonchalant suggestion.</p><p>Hera let out a grumbling exhale, conceding to the droid's logic. They <em>did</em> stand a better chance against the Empire's TIE fighters in the Defender.</p><p>Still, she didn't have to be happy about it.</p><p>"When we get out of this, they are <em>grounded</em> for a month," she grouched to herself.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Sabine shrieked as another tight barrel roll knocked her against the roof and sides of the Defender, bruising her arms and legs as she tumbled.</p><p>The fighter straightened out and she pulled her head up from where she had sprawled.</p><p>"You know, if you get the whole ship blown up, I won't <em>have</em> to deactivate the transponder!" she shouted towards Ezra's back.</p><p>"Why are you worrying about the transponder?!" he yelled back, glancing back from the pilot's chair. "It's not like we can hide from them now!"</p><p>"I'm sorry, I assumed we didn't want to be tracked back to the Capitol by a trio of ace Interceptors!" she sniped, as the aforementioned ships started buzzing the Defender's rear deflectors.</p><p>"Just see if this thing has a kill switch or something!" Ezra snapped, gripping the yoke tightly and sending them into a sheering turn. "<em>I'll</em> worry about the Interceptors!"</p><p>Sabine rolled her eyes but obediently got down into the workings of the ship. "Stay focused this time!" she complained at him, her hands pulling aside a panel. "You've been getting distracted ever since we set foot on that landing strip!"</p><p>Ezra chewed his lip, biting his tongue. He didn't know how to explain to her the weird sensation that had come over him as he'd set eyes on the Defender. The strange splintering energies around the ship and the flashes of vision that had passed through his head, like he was flashing back to a memory.</p><p><em>The Imperial shuttle descending like a circling raptor, Thrawn coming down the ramp, Ezra's body freezing in place as terror strangled him, turning him to a fear-filled stone</em>—</p><p>But Thrawn wasn't there. There were only irritated Stormtroopers, who had opened fire after stumbling across him standing dumbly in front of the ladder, lost in the odd visions.</p><p>It didn't make sense. The flashes couldn't have been memories, because they had never happened. And they weren't as detailed or immersive as his occasional Force-assisted glimpses of the future.</p><p>The energies were <em>still </em>around the Defender now, whispering tendrils of the Force wafting like air currents through the metal and transparisteel, though they were fading fast, stilling into silence.</p><p>He was so busy puzzling it all out that he was numb to what he was doing for a moment.</p><p>The ship shuddered from a hard hit.</p><p><em>"Ezra!" </em>Sabine growled indignantly. "What did I <em>just</em> say?!"</p><p>Ezra shook himself, dispelling the feeling, regripping the yoke. "Sorry!" he blurted. He braked hard, letting the other fighter streak past him. "I got it!" he promised.</p><p>He opened fire, turning the Inteceptor quickly into smoking metal and fire.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Pryce stared furiously through the macrobinoculars, her fingernails digging into the edges as she watched the prototype fighter fly circles around the Imperial Interceptors.</p><p>She yanked them down from her face, whipping around and stalking straight for the nearest comm station, grip tight on the casing.</p><p>"Get me Landing Pad 327A!" she barked out in a sharp order, and the techs scrambled to comply, shying from her anger. Pryce tossed the macrobinoculars on the console, almost throwing them, then leaned hands on the dashboard, hovering over an underling's shoulder and waiting for her hail to go through.</p><p><em>"Governor Pryce!"</em> The reedy voice of Lieutenant Lyste came through the channel as soon as it was open. <em>"Rebel insurgents have stolen the TIE Defender Elite prototype!"</em></p><p>"I can <em>see</em> that!" she snapped, turning her head to look out the hanger. Her eyes burned at the craft, almost invisible in the deepening night, only the bright green laser barrages betraying its position. "Who is in that Defender, Lieutenant?!" she demanded.</p><p><em>"It</em><em>—It was the Mandalorian girl and the Jedi boy!"</em> Lyste stammered out. <em>"They caught us off guard!"</em></p><p>"Bridger," Pryce hissed. Her nails curled, scratching the console. "Activate the anti-theft countermeasures, now!" she ordered.</p><p><em>"At once, Governor!"</em> he promised.</p><p>Pryce reached over the technician's shoulder, pressing a few buttons to switch channels. Grabbing up her handheld comlink, she spoke quickly into the receiver.</p><p>"Ruhk," she said. "That fighter above the industrial sector is being piloted by Rebel insurgents. I have activated its kill switch. Once it goes down, you are to proceed <em>immediately</em> to the crash site and secure it. If there are any survivors, you are to capture them alive, at <em>any </em>cost," she emphasized.</p><p><em>"Understood, Governor,"</em> he acknowledged.</p><p>Pryce leaned back with a breathless exhale, her anger still tingling inside her.</p><p>Collecting herself she swiveled about and snapped, "Get me walkers!" as she stalked deeper into the hanger.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Ezra yelped in alarm as two of the TIE Defender's wings suddenly sheered off.</p><p>"Sabine! What happened?!" he cried, slightly panicked. "I've only got one wing!"</p><p>"We're lucky to still have that!" she told him, emerging from the ship's innards, having sabotaged the detaching mechanism on their last wing. She gripped the back of Ezra's seat tightly. "They hit the kill switch! Brace for impact, we're going down!"</p><p>Ezra's jaw clamped, teeth grinding and clenching as he hung onto the steering column for dear life, all his strength and focus going into holding the dropping fighter in the least severe descent angle he could.</p><p>The Force screamed in warning and he jerked the yoke hard to the right, avoiding a building, as they continued to drop.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Blasterfire crisscrossed over his head as Ryder peeked out from cover to deliver a few shots. Behind the barricade, he glimpsed a Stormtrooper jerking back and falling over, but another had soon taken up his place, keeping the defense line strong. Underneath the cacophony of the firefight, the slow mechanical steps of a chicken walker marched inexorably towards them. Ryder could see it on the main Lothal highway, approaching like a hellish specter of doom.</p><p>"We won't last long against that once it gets in range!" Jai pointed out, crouched next to him behind his own cover, eyes focused over his blaster.</p><p>Ryder looked past the walker towards the city. He couldn't see the swooping TIE prototype anymore; hopefully whoever was inside it had made it down safely.</p><p>He made his way backwards toward his speeder, giving Marida a steel look.</p><p>"We've done all we can," he grunted. "Fall back!"</p><p>She stopped firing her blaster a moment, holding up her arm and opening a channel with her wrist comlink.</p><p>"Fall back!" she repeated, relaying the order. "All Rebels, full retreat."</p><p>Ryder paid one last grim look towards the city as his forces withdrew, fleeing back towards the empty grasslands.</p><p><em>Good luck</em>, he thought, towards their unseen companions within.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>The ship screeched as it skidded across the pavement, and Ezra let go of the steering column and flung up his hands, calling the Force to him to try to slow them down.</p><p>He pushed on the street, on the buildings in front of them, shoving with telekinetic power at whatever his mental hands could grab to halt their skid.</p><p>Metal rent with a hideous roar as the Defender scraped to a halt.</p><p>The jolt as they stopped broke his focus, and Ezra fell face-first into the front window, which held his weight for only a moment until Sabine crashed into his back, and then it shattered, dumping the two teens out into the street.</p><p>Ezra lay there for a moment, dazed, his head still ringing from the impact. After a long minute he was able to force his aching limbs to move, and sat up slowly, leaning against the the strut of their last wing.</p><p>"Ow..." he groaned.</p><p>A body stirred softly next to him. Ezra's eyes flicked over and he saw Sabine picking herself up, pushing up on her palms and coughing lightly from the disturbed dust.</p><p>"Ezra?" she strained, turning around and leaning against the wing with him. "Let's never do this again," she begged.</p><p>Ezra let a grin creep onto his face for a few seconds, before a warning spike on his senses had him lunging forward, pushing her head behind cover.</p><p>"Get down!" he cried.</p><p>A blaster shot sizzled in the space where her hair had been. Ezra shifted, kneeling up on his legs, pulling out his blaster and sending fire back at the Stormtroopers now emerging from the alleyway to their side.</p><p>Sabine found her helmet and shoved it on, and soon had her own pair of blasters out, spewing rapidfire shots at the troopers moving in.</p><p>There seemed to be an abnormal number of them, pouring in from every direction. Ezra stood, his lightsaber flashing out, deflecting blaster bolts and forming a cover shield for Sabine.</p><p>"We're outnumbered!" he called back to her.</p><p>She paused a moment in shooting, one hand diving into her belt and pulling out a handful of her miracles. "I can thin them out!" she told him.</p><p>She picked a direction and tossed her grenades.</p><p>They popped with several bright explosions, throwing bodies aside and up into the air. Stormtroopers screamed as they were sent flying, as shrapnel and debris hit them.</p><p>Sabine grabbed back for his wrist, catching him and holding on tightly.</p><p>"C'mon!" she urged, running into the smoke left behind and pulling him along with her.</p><p>Ezra stumbled a little as he ran with her, the black mist curling all around him, shrouding them in an obscure haze for a moment before they emerged into the clear, on the other side of the slowly tightening winch of troopers.</p><p>Their reprieve didn't last long; as the smoke cleared the troopers realized they were gone, and turned around to shoot at their backs. Ezra and Sabine rushed away from the crash site, their feet pounding, the street they were running down turning into a deadly gauntlet of blaster bolts.</p><p>"What do we do now?!" Ezra asked, firing back with one hand.</p><p>"I'm thinking!" she answered, her gauntlet's energy shield powering up, bouncing laserfire off of its blue surface.</p><p>"Think faster!" Ezra growled, turning and stowing his sidearm, taking a stance with both hands on his saber to meet the next volley.</p><p>Two deflected shots and a Stormtrooper went down; Ezra spun back around to keep running after Sabine.</p><p>"I'm open to ideas!" she told him in aggravation.</p><p>Ezra's head twisted this way and that. He panted heavily as his eyes searched, shins vibrating from his heavy footsteps.</p><p>He pointed. "There!" he said. "Get up on top!"</p><p>Sabine nodded, scrambling up the low archway over a nearby door and ascending quickly up to the roof.</p><p>Ezra's legs coiled and the Force pooled into his leap. He landed roughly a step or two behind Sabine, and now they were running across the rooftops, the crossfire thinning as the Stormtroopers were forced to angle their shots upwards and work around the building edges.</p><p>Sabine was wheezing through her helmet, her exhausted breaths filtering through the vocodor. "Now what?" she asked. Troopers were already starting to climb up to the roof level with them.</p><p>Ezra thought fast. He laid out his mental map of the city inside his head. "Nearest sewer access hatch is a couple blocks over," he said. He searched over the roofs briefly. "Uh... that way!" he told her.</p><p>Sabine's eyes squinted a moment through her helmet as she checked her own mental image and her memory of the holomap. "Isn't that the one you said was a main hub and probably guarded?"</p><p>Ezra shook his head, teeth pinched. "Doesn't matter now!" he pointed out.</p><p>"Okay!" She dispelled her shield, reaching for his hand. "Grab on!"</p><p>His hand clasped around her wrist, holding tight.</p><p>She engaged her jetpack.</p><p>"Woah!" Ezra flailed a bit as he was pulled off his feet.</p><p>He held on as Sabine rocketed them over the Lothal boulevards. When they were close, she dropped them back down to the street, and they wobbled a moment before resuming their frantic pace.</p><p>The hatch was guarded by a clutch of Stormtroopers, as they had suspected, but they still had surprise on their side as they charged forward.</p><p>Ezra heard an ignition from his left and Sabine pushed forward ahead of him, swinging the darksaber across the breastplates of the forwardmost troopers, felling them.</p><p>The others startled back, not expecting that from the Mandalorian, and Ezra was able to rush in and finish them off, his emerald blade flashing.</p><p>There was no time to breathe though, no time to move towards the hatch controls—a troop transport was squealing to a stop in the junction to their right, and the Stormtrooper pursuit was catching up to them from the other streets.</p><p>Sabine turned, brandishing the darksaber, her back against Ezra's as they faced the threat. His arms were in constant motion as he blocked shots. Sabine deflected more awkwardly, one hand fumbling in her belt for another explosive, flinching from shots that got too close. Ezra quickly nudged her behind him with an elbow push, so she was facing the wall and he was facing the attackers, buying her time. His hands gripped tighter around his hilt and his knees locked as his feet rooted.</p><p>A warning tingle from the Force shot through him.</p><p>Ezra whipped eyes up at the unloading troop transport. He had time for a glimpse of eerie eyes and rock-gray skin before a squat shape was leaping towards him.</p><p>The boy yelped, ducking.</p><p>The thing flew over his head, colliding with Sabine and knocking her down. Ezra straightened, gaping in horrified disgust at the creature.</p><p>"What is <em>that?!</em>" he cried.</p><p>"Ugly!" Sabine shouted, grappling with it as it tried to lay hands on her. "Get it off me!"</p><p>Ezra rushed to her aide, prying its spindly fingers off her right wrist and yanking. The thing was strong; it pulled free of Ezra's grip quickly and snapped back, gaining space.</p><p>Ezra raised his saber grimly. The creature's expression lit up with a creepy excited glee, its long hands reaching back to grab a thin polearm, which it brandished in front of it.</p><p><em>"Jedi,"</em> it hissed, its voice a guttural masculine growl, the ends of the stave sparking up with crackling purple energy.</p><p>Ezra froze for just a moment, just a horrible split second of static filling his brain as he stared at the lancing energy.</p><p>The creature rushed him and Ezra forced the flash of panic down before it could overtake him, bringing his lightsaber up in defense. Several rapid blows exchanged as Ezra danced back away from the sizzling weapon.</p><p>The other troopers were still coming.</p><p>Sabine heaved up from the ground and threw her grenades, the devices scattering more haphazardly than she'd intended.</p><p>
  <em>BLAM!</em>
</p><p>One group of advancing troopers knocked back.</p><p>
  <em>BLAM!</em>
</p><p>A wall next to them exploded apart, collapsing debris onto another pair.</p><p>Sabine staggered upright, gripping the darksaber, sending a kick into the chest of a Stormtrooper. He fell back into one of his companions, tripping and toppling over, but not downed for good.</p><p>Sabine moved in.</p><p>While she dealt with them, Ezra was still clashing with the gray creature, lightsaber almost a blur of bright green as it spun and twisted, blocking and blocking and locking with the sparking ends of the stave, deflecting attacks that came on with a speed and ferocity that reminded him uncomfortably of Maul.</p><p>Ezra found a gap and thrust a palm out.</p><p>The Force Push bowled into the creature, stunning it for a moment as it was flung back. It somersaulted quickly, digging fingers into the ground and stopping itself on all fours. Ezra narrowed his eyes as he put his guard up, and none too soon, for the thing came at him again, whirling its polearm in a blur of motion.</p><p>Crashing blows split the air. Ezra went on the offensive, lunging in and grabbing hold of the creature's weapon, twisting it up and back to smack into its own face.</p><p>It snarled furiously, shoving him off with a push of the polearm, before whirling to face an attack from Sabine.</p><p>She yelled as she slashed the darksaber heavily, missing her opponent as it side-stepped. Sabine followed up with a diagonal sweep that knocked the polearm akilter. But the next second it had slipped around behind her and struck her in the small of her back.</p><p>She went down hard, splaying on the pavement. The creature raised the polearm with both hands but immediately had to contend with Ezra, who forced it to back away from Sabine. Ezra pressed his charge, striking with a quick rhythm—one, two, three, sweep—and was rewarded with a satisfying rend of metal as his saber slashed through the center of the thing's weapon.</p><p>It growled low, eyes flashing with anger as it slowly backed off, looking at the broken pieces of its stave. With a creepy smile though, it dropped them, and reached over and pressed a button on its gauntlet.</p><p>Its form shimmered and disappeared.</p><p>Alarmed, Ezra cast his senses about, feeling its presence move around him. Sabine appeared at his shoulder, her rangefinder down, searching.</p><p>"There!" she pointed.</p><p>The shimmering patch of air rushed in and Ezra felt a blow slam into his stomach. He doubled over, and Sabine lunged past him, striking at the air, her fists and feet occasionally meeting resistance as she made contact.</p><p>Ezra straightened and tried to join in, straining to see the visual distortion that dodged and weaved around them.</p><p>It struck Sabine; she stumbled and couldn't recover, overbalancing, falling down. Ezra glimpsed a Stormtrooper running in and grabbing her arm, and her yanking him down to smash his faceplate into her knee, before a rush of air and pattering footsteps behind him warned him of the creature's presence.</p><p>Ezra stabbed out, but hit nothing, and felt a thin but powerful arm wind around his neck, pulling his head back with the creature's weight. Ezra choked slightly, stumbling. The creature continued dragging him backwards, trying to topple him, its other hand grasping at his face. Ezra felt cold tendrils of panic stab into his mind and desperately shook his head, twisting in the creature's grip, trying not to lose himself in flashes of tattooed hands grabbing his chin, fingers digging into his cheeks, mashing against his lips, Maul's breath threatening and hot behind his ear.</p><p>He screamed at his own mind not to dissolve. He couldn't lose focus now.</p><p><em>Stay in the moment, stay in the moment!</em> he told himself, his breaths shortening, his mind beginning to loosen and drift.</p><p>Break out of it, the notion came to him, and impulsively he shoved back hard with his heels, sending the both of them straight into the nearest wall.</p><p>The creature grunted, its hands losing their grip on him as the blow rattled through its body. Ezra wrestled free, almost falling forward, turning around and raising his saber.</p><p>The distortion in the air was quick, too quick—Ezra felt a hand closing on his throat and fingers gripping his sword-arm wrist.</p><p>He was on his back, pinned down before he could react, and scratching with his free hand at the face of his invisible attacker. The hands squeezed his neck and wrist, his lightsaber was useless against the ground, a weight was on his chest, he couldn't see where Sabine was and—</p><p>The creature yelped as a blaster shot popped against its back, and Ezra felt the Force swell around a newcomer to the battle.</p><p>"Hey!" Kanan's voice barked sharply in outrage. "Get off him!"</p><p>Running footsteps and the sharp hum of a swinging lightsaber, and then the weight on him was gone.</p><p>Relief tingled through his head as he watched Kanan battle against the creature.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>"How much further to the coordinates?" Zeb asked in a hushed whisper.</p><p>Kallus checked the small holomap of the city he'd brought with him. "Five blocks," he replied. "But with the troop movement in this sector I doubt anyone's there now." He stowed the device, looking back up. "A better bet would be to search along these streets."</p><p>"If we're that close," Zeb mused, ears twitching and alert, "we should try comming them."</p><p>Kallus pressed his mouth flat for a moment, considering. "All right," he decided.</p><p>He pulled out his comlink, adjusting the knob for the frequency with shaky fingers. He and Zeb kept walking, kept creeping down the alley in slow caution, as he opened the channel.</p><p>"This is Captain Kallus of the Lothal Cell, calling any attack team survivors."</p><p>No response save for quiet static, at first.</p><p>Pulse prickling, Kallus repeated, "This is Captain Kallus. Is anyone out there?"</p><p>Zeb stopped suddenly, his ears picking up a soft sound. A noise like a strangled breath. "Wait," he called to Kallus. His hand raised as he listened harder, ears turning to try and pinpoint the origin. "I hear something."</p><p>He listened a long moment and then pointed.</p><p>"That way."</p><p>Both men trotted out towards the larger street, Kallus continuing to hail the Rebel frequency.</p><p>"Calling any members of the Yavin attack team," he said, stress in every syllable. "Can you hear me?"</p><p>There was a cry from somewhere to their right, immediately drawing their eyes to the market stand where a pink arm had pulled back the heavy tarp.</p><p>"Kallus!" came the young female cry, voice strained with relief and trembling.</p><p>The man gasped through his teeth, surging forward. Zeb jogged to keep up with him. Kallus was already kneeling down, gently pulling Jonner's head from Gooti's lap, settling the boy down carefully. Gooti was sobbing, the breath heaving in and out of her and Kallus moved aside so Zeb could take his place, the medkit already out, grabbing for her arm and gently pulling her away.</p><p>"Are you hurt?" he asked anxiously.</p><p>She couldn't speak, crying too hard, flinging herself into his arms and clinging to him hysterically. It caught him by surprise for only a moment before he returned the hug.</p><p>"It's all right," he breathed. "It's all right. I'm here."</p><p>He held her as Zeb attended to Jonner. The boy coughed weakly, eyes pinched closed as Zeb quickly wrapped bandages around his torso.</p><p>"Hey... Captain..." he whispered thinly.</p><p>"Try not to talk too much," Zeb chided. "You'll aggravate your wound."</p><p>Another soft cough. "Oh," he said.</p><p>Zeb patted his shoulder as he finished, and then his hands carefully slipped under Jonner's back and legs, lifting the boy up lightly in his arms. "Hang tight, kid. We've got ya now," he promised.</p><p>Kallus had managed to pull Gooti to her feet, and was switching comm channels.</p><p>"Captain Syndulla," he reported in, "Garazeb and I have located Ensign Terez and Ensign Jin. Ensign Jin is injured. We are withdrawing immediately to get him medical attention."</p><p><em>"Understood,"</em> she acknowledged. <em>"That's good to hear</em>.<em>"</em></p><p>Kallus stowed his comlink, the static anxiety in his head finally beginning to diminish a little.</p><p>Gooti had shimmering eyes, her loosely-fisted hands shaking by her sides as she took a deep breath.</p><p>"Mart made it down too," she explained. "I... I don't know where he is."</p><p>He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We've got his last known coordinates," he said, even though he had no way of confirming that. "Don't worry," he told her. "We'll find him."</p><p>She took a shaky exhale, calming down.</p><p>Kallus glanced inwards towards the city center as they began to turn back, sending a silent entreaty towards the others, hoping against hope that his words would prove prophetic.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>His head was swimming, delirious from exhaustion.</p><p>Mart pulled his head up wearily, gaze locking on his new location.</p><p>A large open courtyard lay before him, gated on either side by high thick duracrete walls. Giant metal spheres clustered beyond, towering above the walls, resting on solid metal struts and girders.</p><p>Mart stared a moment, his tired mind not comprehending.</p><p>He stirred.</p><p><em>The fuel depot</em>, he realized, his nose catching the faint chemical whiff of processed gas. In his limping, directionless flight from discovery by the Empire, he had stumbled across it. Or perhaps this had always been his heading, some part of him recognizing it as the only familiar landmark he could head to.</p><p>He leaned against the nearest wall, in a slight daze. He didn't know where to go now. The City outskirts were miles away and he had no idea where the nearest sewer hatch was. He had seen no painted starbirds to guide his way. And Stormtroopers had dogged him around every corner.</p><p>He was out of options. Except...</p><p>Mart reached down towards the pocket pouch on his thigh, hesitating, considering. It held a distress flare gun, for emergency use.</p><p>It only had one shot, and Mart knew that as soon as he sent it up he would immediately telegraph his position to every Stormtrooper, pilot, walker, and transport in Capitol City.</p><p>His fingers fumbled with the pocket snap, reaching in and closing around the enamel hilt. He drew out the flare gun, just holding it in his hands a moment, looking at it.</p><p>He didn't know whether it was from desperation or foolish hope that he gripped the hilt, pointed the flare gun up towards the sky, and pulled the trigger.</p><p>His hand jerked from the recoil and a brilliant red rocket streaked up towards the hazy stars.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>From behind the two pilots, Pryce's attention immediately pulled to the red light she could see through the AT-AT's windows.</p><p>Her eyes tracked the flare as it rose up above the buildings, curling higher and higher, the scarlet shade matching the gleam of anger burning hot in her eyes, her mouth agape at the audacity of the Rebels to broadcast themselves so openly.</p><p>And the she realized where the signal flare was coming from.</p><p>Her nails dug into the pilots' seats.</p><p>"They're at the fuel depot," she growled. "Full advance!"</p><p>The walker groaned as its lumbering pace increased double-time.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>The tide of the skirmish had quickly turned around in their favor with Kanan's arrival. Now having to contend with two Jedi and a Mandalorian, all with lightsabers, forced all but the Noghri out of close quarters, and it was all too easy for Kanan and Ezra to block the blasterfire while Sabine shot back.</p><p>Still, the numbers remained against them. Reinforcements continued to arrive. And the invisible assassin was no combat slouch. He circled around Kanan, looking for an opening. Kanan tracked him with his ears, barely moving, calmly waiting until the creature telegraphed his incoming attacks.</p><p>Quick strikes, quick blocks, and then the dance began anew. Kanan kept up with the Noghri's savage slashes like a placid stone standing against turbulent water. That his opponent was camouflaged was no hindrance to him—between the Noghri's growls and puffing breaths, the scritch of his feet against the ground, and Kanan's Force Sense, Kanan could picture exactly where the assassin was.</p><p>A downward strike hit something solid. There was a screech of plasma on metal and the snap of sparks, and the creature drew back with a furious hiss, flickering back into view.</p><p>Ezra quickly stepped up next to his master, throwing a hand out.</p><p>Their opponent was blown back into the far wall, and Sabine followed up with a grenade that burst open the building, spilling debris down on his head. He gawped, yelping as he disappeared from view.</p><p>That settled for the moment, the three closed ranks to face the oncoming Stormtroopers. Kanan could sense Ezra and Sabine's nervous energy as they clustered close to him, their rising grim resignation.</p><p>There were just simply too many. If they didn't break away from this fight and find an opening to escape soon... but there were troopers on all sides, blocking every exit and avenue. The Empire had them dead to rights and would surely be moving in to finish them off.</p><p>Which was why it was a surprise when the troopers all froze, the blasterfire going silent for a moment, petering out as helmets turned up towards the sky behind them in confusion.</p><p>They heard it; the whistling whine of a distress rocket going up. Ezra and Sabine whipped around, gaping as the red flare popped several hundred miles above their heads, a beacon calling them, a cry for help.</p><p>Kanan was the first to shake out of his stupor. "Sabine," he barked quickly, and she took the hint, pulling out the last explosives she had and sending them rolling along the ground towards their enemy.</p><p>
  <em>BAM! BAM-BAM!</em>
</p><p>Smoke and flame filled the space between them. Shouts rang out. The blaster volleys resumed.</p><p>"Come on!" Kanan called, leading the way into the smoke cover. He kept track of Ezra and Sabine by the light tempo of their footsteps, one hand out and reaching low, searching. Trying to remember where he'd heard the two speeder bikes parking...</p><p>His hand brushed a handle and he wasted no time, throwing a leg over the seat. Sabine and Ezra stumbled to the one next to it, Sabine wrapping arms around Ezra's waist as they took command of it, gunning the engine.</p><p>Kanan leaned heavily into the Force and accelerated forward.</p><p>Smoke and dust filled his nose as the speeder rocketed away.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>They stopped when they were convinced they'd lost the troopers—at least temporarily.</p><p>Ezra slumped forward over the handlebars, panting from the exertion and adrenaline still coursing through him. A slight tickle of thirst was at the back of his throat, and the edges of his skull still tingled with uncomfortable anxiety—<em>Breathe breathe breathe breathe</em>, he told himself, <em>You're okay, you're not hurt</em>—but his frantic heartrate was starting to come down.</p><p>Sabine dismounted from the speeder a moment, shielding her faceplate and squinting towards the smoke trail left behind by the flare.</p><p>"That signal flare came from the fuel depot," she said, slightly astonished.</p><p>Kanan turned his head towards her. "Are you sure?" he asked.</p><p>Ezra pulled his head up, mentally tracing the city streets in his head. "She's right," he confirmed. He stood up as well, coming to stand by her shoulder. "We're not even three blocks from it."</p><p>"Which direction?"</p><p>Ezra screwed his face, remembering.</p><p>"One left, then a right, and then it's pretty much a straight shot." He faced Kanan, concern growing on his expression. "What's the plan?"</p><p>Kanan was silent for a long moment, thinking.</p><p>"Can you find your way back to the other access hatch?" he finally spoke up and asked. "The one I came up through?"</p><p>Ezra nodded. "Yeah."</p><p>His master's hand landed softly on his shoulder. "Then I want you take Sabine and go. Hera and Chopper are waiting at that extraction point. I'll zip in, grab our people, and meet you there."</p><p>The words were confident and calm, but as Ezra looked up at Kanan, he felt a sudden spike of anxiety shoot through him.</p><p>The energies were back. Strange distortions swirling around Kanan, eddies that flashed inside his head with images of <em>burning, burning, screams, a rending splitting apart his mind</em>—</p><p>Ezra gasped softly, sharply, through his teeth. His head was ringing. The eddies followed Kanan as he got on the other speeder, and coils of panic started to creep up Ezra's lungs.</p><p>"Wait—" he blurted, reaching out a hand. "Kanan!"</p><p>What did it <em>mean? </em>What was he even sensing?!</p><p>"I'll be back," Kanan assured him, squeezing the handlebars and leaning onto the pedals.</p><p>The speeder shot forward, and the energies went with him, fading out from his vision and senses and leaving him wide-eyed and bewildered in the middle of the street.</p><p>Sabine was tugging at his arm, but an impulse inside him drowned her out. The Force was screaming, calling to him, tingling on his arms and legs and spine, trying to get his attention.</p><p>He ripped himself from her hands, running after the speeder, arms and legs pulsing and pounding in a heavy rhythm.</p><p>"Go, Sabine!" he shouted back at her.</p><p><em>"Ezra!"</em> Her yell was exasperated, tainted with complaint.</p><p><em>"Go!"</em> he told her again.</p><p>His lungs were already shrieking as his frantic dash through the street flared his adrenaline back up into a rapid tempo that beat in time with his knocking heart.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>It was looking and sounding increasingly likely, from the security sirens now wailing on the walls and the echoing bark of filtered voices, the heavy footsteps of walkers, that the Empire would be the first to find him.</p><p>Mart heard the rustling agitation and sighed. It had been a long shot, but it was worth a try.</p><p>He pushed off from the wall with his shoulder, slowly limping across the open courtyard, his footsteps awkward as he gingerly stepped on his injured foot.</p><p>What did he have to lose at this point? he thought. He headed straight for the closest fuel pod, gripping his arm as blood trickled down from the blaster wound, the vague notion of a last stand forming in his head. He was here. Maybe there was still something he could do to finish the mission.</p><p>He paused under the shadow of the fuel pod, craning his neck up, and up, eyes narrowed. He passed his stolen blaster from his injured hand to his good one, lifting it and taking potshots at the pod, pulling the trigger with rigid, precise squeezes.</p><p>Blaster shots popped off the thick metal, pinging away, loud in the empty space.</p><p>Mart kept firing, oblivious to most everything else until a sharp command from behind rang out.</p><p>"Don't move!" an Imperial-sounding voice barked.</p><p>The young Rebel turned around slowly, meeting the uniformed officer with a firm glare. The black-clad man had his pistol leveled at Mart, and was flanked by a pair of troopers, rushing in to take position.</p><p>Anger and defiance burned in Mart's eyes. His shoulders squared, chin straightened, and he pointed his blaster, preparing to go out like his father, like Uncle Jun, thumbing his nose to the Empire until the very end.</p><p>No shots came.</p><p>Instead, the whine of a speeder, coming impossibly fast, grew louder and louder behind the Imperials until all three of them were bowled over in a metal blur.</p><p>Mart blinked as the back end of the speeder spun around, the craft shuddering to an awkward stop. And perched atop it was a very familiar sight.</p><p>His chest shuddered, the anger leaving him for cold <em>relief</em>.</p><p>"Kanan!"</p><p>The Jedi twisted in his seat, beckoning for him with an arm. "C'mon kid! Let's go!"</p><p>Mart couldn't hobble fast enough towards the speeder, the little pings of pain from his ankle inconsequential now.</p><p>"Is it just you?" Kanan asked, as Mart awkwardly reached to get on the seat.</p><p>"Yeah," the boy confirmed, settling in, scooching his legs up.</p><p>Kanan smiled. "Hold on tight, okay?" he instructed gently.</p><p>Mart nodded, grabbing onto the man's middle. "Okay."</p><p>Before Kanan could gun the throttle, a shadow fell across their heads. Mart gasped, his face startling up and stomach plummeting at the sight of the AT-AT walker hovering at the gate of the depot.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Ezra skidded around the corner, his chest tight, lungs hurting, and froze at the horrifying scene before him.</p><p>The walker looming over his master, canons pointed straight down. The eddies had moved off Kanan and were now around the cockpit, vibrating, fritzing off and coalescing like some kind of eldritch thing. There was a strange energy to the whole area, and the buzz of the Force was loud in his ears and head.</p><p>Ezra flashed a hand up, focusing on the walker, frantically searching for weak points. Critical wiring. Support bracers. Pellets of tibanna gas he could squeeze.</p><p>He found a few, but also, as he concentrated, everything seemed to come into hyper-focus. The Force cleared, time almost turning to glass, and the eddies around the walker revealed themselves as tiny cracks.</p><p>He stared through the Force, in a daze. His wide, bewildered eyes fixated with a dizzying clarity.</p><p>The AT-AT didn't just <em>have</em> shatterpoints, he realized with a sudden jolt, it <em>was</em> a shatterpoint. The whole <em>place</em> was a convergence, threads of destiny tangling together, splitting off in different directions. Not just the walker, or the depot, but the whole <em>planet</em>. All of Lothal.</p><p>Ezra's head floated, the vision almost too much for him, too big for him to comprehend.</p><p>
  <em>Break the problem down.</em>
</p><p>He tried to narrow his focus to the spot right there, right in front of him. The cracks around the AT-AT. The timelines splitting off from this moment, right now.</p><p>If he put pressure on just the right point...</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>"They do <em>not</em> escape!" Pryce bellowed, jabbing a finger past the pilot's ears, down at the Rebels. She was livid, spitting her words furiously. "Fire!" she ordered.</p><p>The pilot stirred in concern. "But Governor, if we're not careful we could hit—"</p><p>"<em>Fire!</em>" she screeched again.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Time started to move again.</p><p>The walker's guns slowly ratcheted up, taking aim.</p><p>Ezra's heart was in his throat as he jolted, unfreezing, focusing his mind and concentrating harder. His splayed hand trembled as he focused intensely through the Force, feeling out, following the cracks around the walker to the center, the shatterpoint. He <em>pushed</em>, putting pressure on the weak spot, throwing all his will against it. A little more... a little more...</p><p>Tension strained against his mind as the cracks splintered, scraping against his thoughts like glass.</p><p><em>Just... a little bit... more... </em>he thought.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Pryce gasped and flailed back as the floor buckled beneath her feet.</p><p>The pilots yelled in alarm as something in the neck joint of the AT-AT <em>snapped</em>, loosing the whole head from its bearings. The cockpit jostled hard, tilting, its shots going awry, angling up and away as the head came to dangle off its supports.</p><p>Pryce gripped the back of the seat, glaring out the window at the orange-clad figure she could glimpse standing outside, but then her eyes widened in terror as she tracked the path of the cannon shots, as if in slow motion, and saw them streaking across the open space of the courtyard towards the fuel pod.</p><p>The shots tore straight through with a horrible screech and rend of metal.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>
  <em>KABLAM!</em>
</p><p>Ezra's head snapped back as everything went white, light and heat searing into his eyes. The force of the blast slammed into him with a furious weight, striking him hard across his face, blowing him away.</p><p>He was airborne, his eyes catching a glimpse of orange flames, the walker shuddering, the speeder upending, its occupants tumbling through the air, before his head crashed against the hard ground and everything went black.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>The darkness was ringing, a loud angry sound in his ears. But at the same time his hearing seemed... oddly muted.</p><p>He drifted. Awareness came back slowly to him, piece by tiny piece, pulling from the void.</p><p>Roaring in his ears. That loud, persistent ringing. A dazed sense of shock.</p><p>He wandered through the black, his awareness starting to form, starting to function.</p><p>Lying on his back. The ground underneath him hot and gravelly. Solid... solid earth. He used that to orient himself in the blank space.</p><p>Arms splayed. Legs flush against the floor. Unpleasant sticky sensation behind his head.</p><p>Feeling started to come back to his body and the first thing he became aware of was <em>hurt.</em></p><p>Razor stabbing in his head, sharp and uncomfortable, most prominently. A popped sort of harsh pressure in his ears, under the ringing. A dull, flush <em>ache </em>radiating all through his chest and limbs.</p><p>The pain grew stronger and stronger as his head gradually swam back into his body. He shifted, and a groan pulled immediately from him, even that small movement igniting fire and pain on nerve endings all along his skin.</p><p>Ezra pinched his eyes tightly, then slowly blinked them open.</p><p>An orange and white haze filled his vision. The stars above were gray, veiled by smoke.</p><p>Ezra lay there staring up a moment. He reached up, gingerly, pressing a hand to his head as he tried to get his bearings.</p><p><em>The walker...</em> he thought in a daze. <em>I was trying to stop the walker... and...</em></p><p>He raised his head, looking down his body.</p><p>All he saw was a wall of flames, and slumped shadows on the ground.</p><p>An urgency moved through him, peeling his body up from its prone position. Ezra barely felt the pang of protest that rang through him, stumbling up, hands fumbling on the ground.</p><p>A cold trickle trailed down his neck. The sharp knot of pain back there throbbed horribly. Ezra pressed his hand against the center of the feeling with a hiss, feeling wetness through his fingers, clumped in his hair.</p><p>His palm came away red.</p><p>Shaking himself, Ezra pushed awkwardly up with his knees, nearly falling over before his feet somewhat steadied beneath him. He ignored the hulking shape of the walker, rooted in place, its metal sides scorched. He ignored the wall of heat burning on his front, the awful brightness of the fire and explosions still pluming out from the ruined fuel pod.</p><p>He limped towards the fallen human lump on the ground. A vague notion of panic and fear tingled through his head. He hurried, his bumbling pace growing more frantic.</p><p>"Kanan!" he called. His voice sounded dull and muted in his own ears. "<em>Kanan!</em>"</p><p>The mangled frame of the speeder had landed to the side. His master was lying face-down and prone, curled over Mart as though shielding him from the blast, his back scorched, clothes black and burning. Mart was laying on his palms in shock, eyes wide, trembling as if afraid to move and confirm the body above him was only a corpse.</p><p>Ezra's heart was clenched and squeezing as he ran up, his voice shrill.</p><p>"Kanan!"</p><p>The body atop Mart gave a groan, and Ezra shivered with relief, the tension inside his head unwinding in a rush. He toppled to his knees besides Kanan, slapping out the little tongues of flame creeping on his clothing before tugging up on his arm.</p><p>"We gotta go!"</p><p>He lifted the man up just enough for Mart to be able to wiggle out from underneath him, and then both boys grabbed under Kanan's armpits, hauling him forward. His mask had come off and his glassy sightless eyes blinked in slow and dull confusion. Ezra didn't let himself think about the mangled mess Kanan's back was, flesh twisted and burned, the stench of it horrifying in his nose.</p><p>"We gotta go, come on!" he repeated urgently, maneuvering under his left arm to support him.</p><p>Kanan was heavy, even with Mart's help, and the three stumbled, Ezra steering them towards the toppled speeder. He reached out and grabbed the handlebars, turning it over, setting it back upright.</p><p>"That's not meant to hold three..." Mart rasped, knees straining to keep Kanan supported.</p><p>"I know. But it'll have to," Ezra said. His hearing was still dull, but the ringing was beginning to fade, the roaring of the flames replacing it. The fire had spread to the other fuel pods and they were buckling, cracking under the heat.</p><p>This was not a place to be.</p><p>They hauled Kanan's limp form up onto the speeder with them, limbs awkward and seating unsteady. He whispered suddenly, his voice hoarse in Ezra's ear.</p><p>"Lightsaber..." he groaned.</p><p>Ezra was too busy powering up the speeder's engine, eyes down and concentrating, flipping the switches on the repulsorlift controls to try to compensate for the added weight, so Mart was the one who looked back.</p><p>He spotted Kanan's lightsaber quickly, and the hand that reached out of the orange haze for it. Flaming fingers grabbed around the hilt, the burning form of the Imperial officer screaming wretchedly as he was immolated.</p><p>Mart flinched, his whole face wincing from the horrible sight, quickly facing forward again. "We're gonna have to come back for it," he told the Jedi in a small voice.</p><p>The speeder sputtered underneath them, puttering, belching, the engine turning over several times until it revved, shorted, revved again and surged them forward.</p><p>Ezra pressed his feet flat on the accelerators the whole time, straining the vehicle for all it was worth as the speeder moved in short jolts and stops away from the conflagration.</p><p>The fuel depot continued to explode behind them.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Ezra took back alleys and narrow service corridors. It made the trip harrowingly longer, and more than once they had to stop entirely to let a squad of Stormtroopers pass through, their boots racing frantically as they converged towards the fuel depot.</p><p>Faces poked out of doorways and windows, and as they got further from the center, the whole city seemed to wake up, civilians pouring out into the street and staring towards the plumes of smoke rising from the factory district.</p><p>Ezra didn't know who started the first riot, only that when they finally made it to Sabine, Hera, and Chopper, pacing anxiously at the extraction point sewer access hatch, all of Capitol City seemed in violent upheaval. Running bodies dashed to and fro. Things toppled over. Blaster shots rang out from all directions. A hysterical Hera grabbed Kanan from him and Ezra stood there in a daze, listening to the cacophony in his muted ears until Sabine latched onto his wrist and pulled him down into the safety of the sewer tunnels, the discordant chaos cutting out as the thick tunnel walls muffled them.</p><p>The noise took forever to fade as they fled the city into the wilds.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>MADE YOU WORRY FOR A MINUTE THERE, DIDN'T I? Lol.</p><p>1. Yes, when bullet-pointing the outline for this chapter, my gremlin brain was apparently all, <i>"Hurt the kids."</i> and who am I to resist? Spread it out a little this time though, and didn't single-focus on Ezra, which I'm sure he's grateful for.</p><p>2. Kallus continuing to be Stressed Rebellion Dad, because I'm terribly soft for it.</p><p>3. The chapter got a little bit self-indulgent I admit, with the #married Sabezra banter and them getting to be Battle Couple. I make no apologies.</p><p>4. A little trippy Force sequence! Ezra's been practicing the Shatterpoint technique so much he's unlocked the clairvoyant elements of it, also amplified by the nature of Lothal itself and its status as gateway to the World Between Worlds. Basically, shatterpoints aren't just weak spots in physical items, they also exist within the fabric of the Force itself, manifesting as a cluster of possible outcomes that can be influenced and directed in different directions by someone Force Sensitive and skilled enough to perceive them. Ezra might not be quite on the level of skill needed to fully sense shatterpoints of that nature, but his strong connection to his home planet gives his abilities enough of a boost for him to see them, for just a short few seconds.</p><p>5. Kanan lives! This is a plot point and AU change that I was kind of just going to summarize and gloss over in the last fic, "Swept Pieces", but apparently I can't do that, apparently I really really needed to actually write it out and have it happen "onscreen" and explore the full impact of it happening in the moment it happened. I mean, kind of an inevitable storytelling choice given where things were headed and the fact that I was covering the equivalent events of the "Rebel Assault" episode and basically smashing "Jedi Night" into it too. But no matter how we got here, here we are. You're welcome.</p><p>6. I think I did manage to recapture the feel and specific imagery-heavy diction I'd had in the first draft that got deleted, so minor setback aside I'm pretty happy. But definitely being a paranoid saver from this point.</p><p>Whew! Nearly thirteen-thousand words later and I am <i>exhausted</i> but so satisfied.</p><p>We'll be wrapping things up soon, cleaning up from the fallout of this heavy and loooooong chapter, and all I can say is that Pryce's day gets <i>infinitely</i> worse lol.</p><p>Review my lovelies!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The smoke from the uprising clears.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Helloooooo dear readers, let's calm things down a bit from last time shall we? Lol.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Pryce squirmed under the severe scrutiny Thrawn's red eyes were leveling on her. The Grand Admiral was only a holographic projection, the man himself several thousand lightyears away, and yet his anger seemed horribly immediate and physical, coiling around him like a rat snake about to strike.</p>
<p><em>"So," </em>he began, his voice icier than she had ever heard, sending a cold jolt of fear straight to her heart. <em>"You allowed the Rebels to escape."</em></p>
<p>The words sent tingles of panic through her. "Grand Admiral I—" she started to protest.</p>
<p><em>"And not only that," </em>Thrawn continued, interrupting her, <em>"but your carelessness and unthinking actions, in fact, </em><em><strong>gave</strong></em><em> them the victory they had so desperately hoped for: the destruction of the fuel depot, and a complete halt to all factory operations on Lothal." </em>His eyes were burning red embers, searing daggers of heat at her. <em>"My TIE Defender program is compromised, because of </em><em><strong>you</strong></em><em>, Governor</em>," he seethed. <em>"And now Krennic's project will be gaining the funds and resources I had sought to secure with my departure to Coruscant."</em></p>
<p>She felt like an insect, pinned down by a sharp needle through her torso and washed in harsh laboratory light, and her face twisted with uncomfortable twinges of guilt and fear.</p>
<p><em>"Do you think, for a single moment," </em>Thrawn asked her, tone withering with displeasure in every syllable, <em>"that once Krennic's Death Star has been completed, that the Emperor will not immediately put Lothal in the docket of targets to be destroyed, for your failure to quell the rebellion there?"</em></p>
<p>She had been cowering with her gaze down but yanked her head up at that, alarmed.</p>
<p>Thrawn's expression didn't change, betraying his absolute seriousness. <em>"And that is assuming he does not dispatch me to return immediately to the planet to glass it myself," </em>he added.</p>
<p>"The uprising has been put down!" Pryce argued, clinging desperately to the last shreds of her dignity, pointedly ignoring the smug smirk Ruhk had on him as he leaned against the wall in the shadows of the corner. "Martial law has been ordered, the full garrison is deployed! There are checkpoints and patrols on every corner, every exit in or out of the city is being sealed and watched." Her words stuttered, fumbling on the way out of her mouth. "The—the fighter attack squadron was destroyed, and we <em>did</em> capture some Rebel pilots. I—I don't—I don't know—What else do you want me to do?" she asked frantically.</p>
<p><em>"Perhaps you could devise a method by which to reverse the course of the temporal flow, to go back in time and </em><em><strong>fix your mistake</strong></em><em>," </em>Thrawn said with an odd sour sarcasm tracing through his voice.</p>
<p>Pryce's teeth gnashed inside her head, anger sparking up her spine. "It's <em>not</em> my fault!" she cried. "It was Bridger! He... he <em>did</em> something to the walker, damaged it from afar, threw off its aim!"</p>
<p>His red eyes flashed at the mention of the boy's name, livid.</p>
<p><em>"Do not attempt to deflect your blame on the anomaly, Governor," </em>Thrawn growled, unamused. <em>"</em><em><strong>You</strong></em><em> were the one who ordered the walker to open fire." </em>His image turned suddenly, addressing their silent observer. <em>"And do not look so satisfied, Ruhk," </em>he scolded sharply. <em>"You, also, failed to apprehend the Jedi and his apprentice before they could get to the fuel depot."</em></p>
<p>Ruhk looked appropriately chastened, the smile dropping off his face at once. "I accept that blame, my lord," he promptly kowtowed, bowing his head.</p>
<p>"Well you needn't worry about the Jedi any longer," Pryce hissed, a vaguely deranged look hinting in her eyes, tugging at the corner of her lips. "Kanan Jarrus is dead," she announced proudly.</p>
<p>That gave Thrawn a moment of pause.</p>
<p>He sidled his attention back towards Pryce. <em>"Are you certain?" </em>he asked, tone much softer, more neutral.</p>
<p>Seizing upon the moment, she produced his lightsaber, the plastisteel bits on the handle a bit melted from the heat of the inferno, but intact and seemingly functional. "We found his lightsaber and the burnt scrap of armor he wore over his eyes, next to an immolated corpse about his size and build," she explained. "We are only waiting on forensics to confirm it."</p>
<p>Tension loosened slightly in the man's shoulders and he looked almost pensive, considering her bit of news, mulling over it inside his head. <em>"If that is indeed true, that is a great advantage to us indeed," </em>he reasoned. <em>"The Rebels will flounder, their morale broken, with the loss of the Jedi Master."</em></p>
<p>Pryce's breathing relaxed a bit. She was smiling breathlessly, peeking up from the presented lightsaber, the vague hope beginning to rise in her that Thrawn would—</p>
<p>But the next moment she flinched as his expression changed, the bone-chilling anger returning, furrowing between his brows.</p>
<p><em>"This does </em><em><strong>not</strong></em><em>, however, make up for your grievous blunders," </em>he told her severely. <em>"And until you have a confirmed body, I would hesitate to rush to proclaim Kanan Jarrus's death." </em>He leaned forward, making sure she heard every hissed word, enunciating with sharp precision. <em>"Rest assured, I will </em><em><strong>deal </strong></em><em>with you when I return... </em><em><strong>Governor</strong></em><em>."</em></p>
<p>She cowered under the threat, the fear bald on her face long after the Grand Admiral ended the call. Ruhk took his leave without even asking her permission, stalking casually out of the office with nary a word.</p>
<p>Pryce swallowed dryly, looking down at the lightsaber and seeing it for the pitiful consolation prize it was. Her trembling hand refused to steady.</p>
<p>She was <em>so </em>dead.</p>
<p>-SWR-</p>
<p>"Hey."</p>
<p>Ezra startled a little at the voice behind him, looking up and turning his torso to see Sabine walking up, a speeder parked a ways up the hill behind her.</p>
<p>"How'd you manage to wander all the way out here by yourself?" she asked, amused smile quirking on her lips as she made it to him.</p>
<p>He shrugged. "Just sort of picked a direction and kept walking," he said.</p>
<p>She put her hands on her hips. "Didn't Leslynn tell you to avoid any strenuous activity until your symptoms improved?" she accused, though her tone was playful.</p>
<p>"Hey, the walking part itself only took like thirty minutes. I've been sitting here staring out at the grasslands this whole time," Ezra protested lightly.</p>
<p>"I should go back to base and get on the transmitter to tattle on you," Sabine teased, boots scritching as she moved to sit down next to him, legs folding comfortably underneath her.</p>
<p>"I'm okay," he promised. "I've been... meditating mostly. It helps."</p>
<p>She nodded softly, leaning her arms around her knees.</p>
<p>The both of them looked out across the wide Lothal plains, watching the amber grasses flutter in the wind that whispered in their ears, shifting across the field.</p>
<p>The comfortable silence stretched out. Neither spoke, but then it felt like they didn't need to. Lost inside their own heads, they just sat together side by side, listening to the rustle of the grass.</p>
<p>A low howl drifted across the plain.</p>
<p>Sabine glanced up, seeing the white Loth-wolf suddenly there across the distance, where there had only been empty space before. It stood atop one of the rocky mounds, quietly observing them.</p>
<p>"Huh," she said. "Wonder where he just came from. Could've sworn he wasn't there a second ago."</p>
<p>"Dunno," Ezra responded. He was uncurling from his meditative position, squinting towards the white blur of fur in the distance. "They have some kind of strong connection to the Force. I can sense it."</p>
<p>Sabine chuckled lightly. "So I guess they just... <em>do</em> that, huh?"</p>
<p>He grinned, shifting and starting to get up. "Yeah," he agreed. "They just do that."</p>
<p>She shook her head, reaching for his easily offered hand as he helped her up. "I'm telling you right now, I don't think I'll ever fully understand all this mystic Force stuff."</p>
<p>"Me neither," Ezra confessed, bright smile on his face. "So at least we're even there."</p>
<p>Sabine smiled back, and tugged on his hand, angling back towards the speeder, leading him to it. "C'mon, you've been out here for hours. People were starting to get worried."</p>
<p>"<em>You </em>were getting worried," Ezra corrected with a tease. He released her hand to reach for the handlebars. "I'll drive," he offered.</p>
<p>"Oh no you don't, mister concussion," she said, smacking a hand across his chest to block him. She shouldered him out of the way and took the front seat herself. "Then I really <em>will </em>tattle on you to Leslynn."</p>
<p>He made a mock offended frown, his face twisting. "Killjoy," he grumbled.</p>
<p>But he wrapped his arms around her waist anyway as he took second place behind her, holding on tight as they sped away.</p>
<p>-SWR-</p>
<p>The base was fluttering with quiet activity when they pulled up in the speeder. Ryder and Jai were listening in on Imperial broadcasts, and Ezra caught snatches of the triumphant announcement of Kanan's alleged death repeating for probably the seventh time that day as he and Sabine dismounted.</p>
<p><em>"All citizens must continue to remain in their homes under emergency lockdown, due to the ongoing threat of insurgent activity, but we invite you to participate virtually with us in a special Holonet broadcast to commemorate the occasion,"</em> the crisp Core World accent chirped in a voice that belied the nightmarish content of the words.</p>
<p>"Turn that thing off," Hera demanded, snapping as she stalked out from the path that led deeper into the caverns.</p>
<p>Jai startled and fumbled with the dial, and Ezra and Sabine both flinched like delinquents caught with contraband as Hera walked up and came to stand in front of them, folding her arms.</p>
<p>"And where exactly have you two been?" she asked sternly.</p>
<p>"Don't blame me," Sabine said, immediately putting up her hands with a step back. "Ezra's the one who wandered away from the base."</p>
<p>Hera's green eyes flicked to him.</p>
<p>He only dropped his gaze, evasively. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I just... couldn't keep sitting around watching everyone else work while I did nothing."</p>
<p>Her severe look softened with understanding. Her ear cones echoed with the memory of his quiet complaining that morning, begging for a task to do and wilting when she'd had to deny him.</p>
<p>She reached out a hand, placing it gently on his shoulder.</p>
<p>"Oh Ezra," she breathed. "You've already done <em>so</em> much."</p>
<p>"Yeah," Zeb piped up from the alcove where he was sitting, welding together metal panels for the Rebels to expand their makeshift platform. "Single-handedly blew up the whole fuel depot from what I heard," he said, grinning widely at Ezra.</p>
<p>"On <em>accident,</em>" Ezra pointed out, his eyebrow twitching slightly.</p>
<p>"Accidental or not," said Ryder, standing up from his seat by the transmitter, "you won us a big victory that day." He came up to stand behind Hera's shoulder, his expression warm. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Ezra," he said genuinely. "You've done fine work."</p>
<p>His cheeks turned slightly red at the praise, and he turned away with a cough. Dismissing the subject he turned back to Hera and asked, "How's Kanan?"</p>
<p>"Awake." He startled at that, double-taking, an eager light flicking on in the depths of his eyes and Hera smiled softly as she added, "And he wants to see you."</p>
<p>Ezra glanced back at Sabine, seemingly checking for permission to go, and she nodded, and Ezra trotted off, deeper into the caves, bootsteps scuffing the earthen rock.</p>
<p>-SWR-</p>
<p>Ezra's steps slowed as he approached the small chamber they'd been using as a makeshift medbay. The lanterns mounted on the walls struggled to light the room, dim yellow glow straining across the heather floor.</p>
<p>The boy's heart prickled nervously. Kanan had been almost comatose for two days, as they did what they could for his burns with what meager medical supplies they had.</p>
<p>But now, as Hera had said, he was awake and sitting up, the blanket half-crumpled around his legs, blinking towards one of the walls in some private contemplation.</p>
<p>His head turned at the sound of Ezra's footsteps. With his beard shaved off and his hair shorn close to his scalp, the scarring still on the back of his neck, Ezra almost didn't even recognize him.</p>
<p>He fumbled for words a moment, feeling awkward and inadequate, some weight seeming to block his speech before it could come out.</p>
<p>Eventually, his emotions settled on relief and an irreverent joke. "Nice haircut," he quipped, walking further into the room.</p>
<p>Absently, Kanan reached up a hand to finger it, feel the stiff and blackened ends. "Hera hates it," he said. He grinned. "But you know, did the best I could considering I'm blind and half of it was burned off."</p>
<p>The corners of Ezra's mouth quirked. The warmth through their bond was beginning to put him back at ease, dissipating his tensions. "And you shaved the beard because...?" he teased.</p>
<p>Kanan rolled his shoulders in a shrug. "Ah, I figured since I was changing my look anyway I might as well," he commented lightly. He beckoned Ezra closer, tone lacing with soft concern. "How's your head?" he asked. "Hera said you whacked it pretty hard."</p>
<p>Ezra took the invitation to sit down next to him, mashing a knuckle under his right earlobe. "Hearing's still coming back," he explained. "Light's sometimes too sharp in my eyes. But much better."</p>
<p>"Good," Kanan said, nodding, sounding satisfied. "That's good. I'm glad. The last thing you need is more brain damage," he joked.</p>
<p>Ezra sniffed with a small chuckle, but didn't reply, curling his legs up and leaning his arms on his knees. It felt weirdly... nice... to be able to crack jokes about what had happened on the <em>Chimaera</em>. Like the terrifying power it normally had over him was far diminished, a shadow on his thoughts.</p>
<p>It felt like a <em>lot</em> of things inside him had shifted, recently, and he was still trying to figure himself out in the roiling confusion.</p>
<p>Kanan flexed his shoulders and stretched, cracking his neck. "So what'd I miss?" he asked.</p>
<p>"Empire thinks you're dead," Ezra replied automatically. Better to get that bit out first. "They're holding some sick victory celebration over it."</p>
<p>Kanan looked like he was valiantly holding back another cheesy grin. "They're gonna be pissed when they find out I'm not," he quipped. "Then again," he amended, "maybe it's better they don't find out." His fingers fiddled with the blanket, picking at it. "I could go underground. Disappear."</p>
<p>"Like you'd leave all the fighting to Hera," Ezra laughed.</p>
<p>"Hera could come with me," Kanan insisted, almost whining.</p>
<p>"You take Hera, then you'll have to take Chopper," Ezra pointed out. "Bolt bucket's not going anywhere without her. And then you'll have to take me too. And Sabine. And Zeb of course." He let the smile crack his face. "And I'm not sure Kallus and Iron Squadron would want to be left behind either."</p>
<p>"Guess we'll all have to disappear together," Kanan decided, with a light, flippant tone.</p>
<p>Ezra chuckled. "Yeah."</p>
<p>They fell silent for a moment, just letting the Force reverberate between them, saying all the things they couldn't say out loud. They sat and just... breathed, being present in the room together.</p>
<p>A shift in Kanan's emotions through the bond stirred Ezra's attention.</p>
<p>"Ezra..." Kanan began. His eyes scrunched, a thinking frown pulling at his mouth. "What happened out there with the walker?" he asked.</p>
<p>"What do you mean?" Ezra said, a nervous prick going through him.</p>
<p>"I felt some strange surge of power in the Force," Kanan told him. He shook his head, marveling in bewilderment. "It was like nothing I'd ever sensed before. For a moment, your signature was so <em>bright</em>."</p>
<p>He was secretly glad he wasn't the only one who felt odd about it. Ezra traced a finger along the seam of his sleeve. He was quiet a few seconds, putting together words inside his head.</p>
<p>"Remember that Force vision I told you about? The one I had on Ilum, with the old Jedi Master who knighted me?"</p>
<p>Kanan nodded slowly. "You've mentioned it a few times."</p>
<p>Ezra shifted in his seat. "He... taught me this technique that I used to beat Maul. And I've been using it since. That's what I did with the walker."</p>
<p>His master absorbed that, quietly thoughtful. "So you've done it before?" he asked.</p>
<p>"Well..." Ezra rubbed the hair behind his head. "It's usually not so intense," he admitted sheepishly. "I look for flaws and weak spots through the Force and just sort of... <em>press </em>on them, to make the whole thing collapse or break internally."</p>
<p>Kanan gaped, his sightless eyes open wide. "Ezra, that's a high-level technique," he said, amazed. "I only knew of one Jedi Master who could do that." He chuckled. "Makes a lot of sense he'd teach it to you, actually. He was <em>my </em>master's Master, Mace Windu," he explained. "High Council member, and a very wise and powerful Jedi."</p>
<p>"I'm not very good at it," Ezra dismissed. "Takes forever to concentrate enough to see the weak spots clearly."</p>
<p>"Still," Kanan pressed, a hand settling on Ezra's back, "it's impressive."</p>
<p>"But, something was different this time," Ezra said, pulling away in a bit of agitation. "The shatterpoint was... well, it was... like a cluster of possibilities?" he tried to describe, his hands opening outwards and fingers curling in helpless gestures. "I could almost... <em>see</em> different futures, branching off that one moment." He gulped, swallowing down a sudden wash of anxiety and fear.</p>
<p>Kanan had fallen stone silent next to him, his pensive frown of concentration back.</p>
<p>Ezra's arms curled back around his knees and he hugged himself quietly. "What do you think it means, Kanan?" he plied.</p>
<p>"I don't know," his master admitted. "Your powers have always grown in leaps and bounds. I have to believe the Force is preparing you for something." He leaned back on his palms. "Some destiny we can't see yet. All paths are coming together. We'll just have to see where they lead."</p>
<p>Ezra's mouth twisted wryly. "You know I hate it when you go all cryptic like that."</p>
<p>"Give it time," Kanan joked, lifting a hand and ruffling it through Ezra's hair. "Soon, <em>you'll </em>be making the mystic platitudes, padawan."</p>
<p>"Jedi Knight," Ezra corrected cheekily.</p>
<p>Kanan rolled his eyes. "Whatever."</p>
<p>-SWR-</p>
<p>The three teens leaned very seriously over their cards, studying their own hands intensely. Jonner was inclined with his back against a crate, and Mart had his ankle resting on the corner of the one that was serving as their table, which irritated Kallus only slightly as it was <em>technically</em> following Dr. Leslynn's instructions, but every time the boy shifted he jostled the stacks of credits in the center.</p>
<p>Mart sat back with a smug look. "Ha!" he crowed, slapping his hand down face-up.</p>
<p>Gooti and Jonner both groaned and made faces, folding their hands and giving up the pot. But as Mart reached for the credits, Kallus's hand on his wrist stopped him.</p>
<p>"Not so fast, Mattin," he said.</p>
<p>He revealed his cards.</p>
<p>Mart groaned now, wilting, watching Kallus sweep the credits in his ever-growing stash. "Again?" he said in disbelief. "Really?"</p>
<p>"Your sabaac face is something else, Captain," Gooti complimented, gathering up the cards to begin shuffling them again. "How'd you even find the time to get so good at this game in-between, you know... chasing down Rebels and oppressing the masses?" she asked.</p>
<p>Kallus's mouth quirked from the compliment and the backhanded reference to his former career. "Even Imperials had the occasional downtime," he said neutrally, meticulously stacking the credits piece by piece. "I've been playing sabaac since before you three were born." Brightly, he asked, "Shall we deal in another round?"</p>
<p>The teens mumbled evasively, but made no move to get up from their seats—not that Mart or Jonner were supposed to anyway—and Gooti was busying herself with shuffling when a ruckus from further down the gully drew their attention.</p>
<p>A couple startled shouts went up, and Rebels stumbled back from the figure of the white Loth-wolf, who had seemingly just... <em>appeared</em> on their makeshift platform. Jonner flattened himself back against the crate and Mart latched onto Gooti's arm, biting down on the curse that clearly wanted to spit out of him.</p>
<p>Kallus went on alert, standing up in a guarded crouch, hand hovering near his sidearm.</p>
<p>The wolf made no threatening movements. It just stood there, blinking its golden eyes slowly. Kallus assessed it, noticing an odd chunk of rock between its front paws.</p>
<p>The air stirred behind him, footsteps echoing out of the caverns.</p>
<p>"What's going on?"</p>
<p>Keeping one part of his attention on the Loth-wolf, Kallus glanced back to see Ezra and Kanan walking out onto the ledge, eyes filled with confusion.</p>
<p>The wolf stirred. It lowered its nose with a snuffle, nudging the piece of rock, moving it forward towards them.</p>
<p>"I... think it's here to talk to you two," Sabine guessed, slowly approaching from the other side.</p>
<p>Frowning, Ezra glanced back at Kanan, who gave a hopeless kind of half-shrug.</p>
<p>Kallus watched Ezra approach the wolf, kneeling down to pick up the piece of rubble, which—Kallus now noticed—was beautifully etched on one side with golden paint in spiraling patterns. Ezra looked at the piece for a moment before meeting eyes with the wolf, some silent communication seeming to pass between them.</p>
<p>Ezra held eye contact with the Loth-wolf for what seemed like a very long time, before the creature snuffed and straightened, raising its head and bounding away down the carved path, Rebels flinging themselves out of the way as it vanished down the gully.</p>
<p>The ex-ISB agent shook his head.</p>
<p><em>I am never going to get used to this</em>, he thought in a slight daze.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The Mirrorverse series has a TVTropes page! (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/Mirrorverse) Aaaah whoever created it, you absolutely made my night!</p>
<p>Anyway, chapter notes.</p>
<p>1. Thrawn continues to unravel and I dunno about you but I wouldn't want to be around when he's finally had enough shenanigans. More to come on that end later. :)</p>
<p>2. And a little shout-out to my OC Rebel medic Leslynn from previous installments. She can't actually be there to treat anyone in person but she certainly still has useful medical expertise. (Which Ezra is terrible about following because he hates sitting around being useless.)</p>
<p>3. Pryce did not wait for the forensics to come in. Whoops. On the plus side, we now have justification for the Empire to consider Kanan as presumed dead, which will be important later.</p>
<p>4. So much bricklaying for future plot points in this chapter. So much.</p>
<p>5. Kallus has been overexposed to all this Weird Force Shit, he needs a well-deserved nap, lol.</p>
<p>One more chapter to tie us up and then a pause while we finish moving and I put together an actual outline for the last fic. Thanks for sticking with me dear readers!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. What Lies Behind, What Looms Ahead</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ezra interferes with the Empire's designs for the Lothal temple.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Once again we've come to the end, at least for now. (Gonna be taking a break to hash out an outline and focus on some out-of-fandom things for a bit.) I wish to once again thank all my loyal readers; your comments and reviews really keep me going.</p><p>Let's check back in one last time with everyone, shall we?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ezra burst from the side of the temple wall just as Sabine was looking towards it, immediately crashing to the ground and rolling to an awkward stop.</p><p>"Ezra!" she cried, lunging to his side at once and grabbing his arm, urging him to his feet. "C'mon, c'mon, get up! We're leaving!" She pulled him upright, tugging him along, away from the portal, toward what she hoped was safety—if they could find it between the lancing blaster bolts and charging Stormtroopers.</p><p>He pulled his head up, shaking off the daze of his landing. "No!" he protested, planting his feet.</p><p>Sabine let go in confusion.</p><p>Ezra thumbed over his shoulder, at the circle of painted Loth-wolves still running on the temple wall behind them. "We have to seal the portal." He looked overwhelmed for just a moment before his expression changed into determination. "Come on!" he urged.</p><p>Stormtroopers rushed them as Hera led the way, Sabine on her heels, both women laying down cover fire and felling enemies as they ran, feet making a pounding path back to the painting of the Mortis gods. Sabine glanced back anxiously a couple times to reassure herself that Ezra and Zeb were following, Zeb holding Ezra close to his side to shield him, firing shots from his bo-rifle.</p><p>They reached the painting quickly. The press of troopers had soon backed them up against the wall, stray shots finding their way past them to ding the mural and Sabine flinched every time, hoping that none of the bolts did any damage. She didn't know exactly how it worked; all she knew was that Ezra had to interact with it, and if that were so, there had to be something left for him to interact with.</p><p>So she shot back feverishly, striking Stormtrooper after Stormtropper with rapid shots.</p><p>There were so many. They'd be overwhelmed if something didn't—</p><p>A loud grinding of metal bits reared up in her hearing, zooming in from the side. A large shape blocked the industrial lights to her right and Sabine squinted at the rolling drill as it sped straight for the Stormtroopers, scattering them.</p><p>Chopper's maniacal beeps could be heard from within the driver's cabin.</p><p>Sabine felt trickles of relief ping through her and shudder down her arms. The drill swung in a wide arc to block them from the troopers' sight. They had their opening to move.</p><p>Zeb's laughter brayed out.</p><p>"Chopper's got 'em!" he said. "Let's move!"</p><p>Ezra looked to her, earnest and trusting.</p><p>"Sabine! Which one do I activate?"</p><p>She pointed up. "The Son!" she called. "That one!"</p><p>He nodded, and with a quick boost from Zeb was lifted up within reach, pressing a fist into the figure's painted hand.</p><p>Sabine watched anxiously, biting the inside of her lip. She saw his face squeeze tight in concentration.</p><p>It had to work. The theory that she and Hydan had come up with for how the portal operated <em>had </em>to be right. Ezra trusted her, was putting his life at risk based on her evaluation. She <em>couldn't</em> let him down. If she'd guessed wrong...</p><p>But the circle around the Son's clenched fist turned blood red, and Ezra fell away from the wall as the same scarlet color flashed up through the golden lines of the mural.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Zeb caught Ezra as the boy collapsed, fainting softly into Zeb's hands. He looked down at Ezra in concern, worry ringing through him.</p><p>The boy was limp, his eyes closed. Whatever he'd done must have taken a lot out of him. Zeb's eyes wrinkled with distress. Ezra felt... <em>light</em>. Fragile, even. Zeb was almost irrationally afraid of dropping him, certain the boy would shatter against the ground. His fingers tightened.</p><p>A crunch of stone from the wall made his head jerk up.</p><p>Zeb watched, half in bewilderment, half in disbelief, as the picture on the wall <em>moved</em>, the central figure raising his hand up from its pointing finger to a neutral gesture, the darker figure next to it—the "Son" Sabine had called it—bringing his hands beneath his chin and bowing reverently before beginning to descend, disappearing towards the ground as though it were on some kind of turbolift platform.</p><p>Chopper maneuvered the drill around, drawing their attention. Zeb turned his back to the portal. There was no more time to ponder about the painting, or the portal. No time to contemplate the mysteries of the Force. Hera and Sabine were already running for the drill and Zeb followed after them, carrying Ezra carefully and gently.</p><p>Zeb glanced up towards the top of the ridge, where Kanan and Kallus had stayed behind to keep watch. He was <em>so</em> glad neither of them could see what was happening down here because Zeb wasn't even sure <em>how</em> he was going to describe this later.</p><p>Ezra stirred softly in his arms, mumbling something incoherent.</p><p>Zeb hugged him a little tighter to his chest.</p><p>"Easy kid," he whispered soothingly. "Don't worry, I'm not letting go."</p><p>The vale turned blinding white as light blazed out from the mural behind them.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Kallus wished Kanan would stop squeezing his arm in panic, especially when he himself was trying to avoid freaking out.</p><p>He was doing a considerably terrible job at it.</p><p>"What's happening?!" Kanan was asking him frantically.</p><p><em>"I don't know!" </em>Kallus shouted with shrill honesty. He flung his hands out. "Everything is glowing!"</p><p>Stars above he regretted ever coming along for this. It had been one exercise in impossible happenings after another.</p><p>Kallus was beginning to believe that Sabine had been entirely factual when she'd casually talked about undead Nightsister witch spirits possessing her like a demented puppet.</p><p>The ground continued to rumble and shift beneath them. He squinted into the searing white light, trying to catch a glimpse of the others, of anything really. The air was filled with noise, loud and thunderous, as if the earth was in violent upheaval. Rock scraped against rock.</p><p>Over the top of the ridge came an angular silhouette framed against the brilliant supernova. A mechanical roar surged as the wheels of what sounded like an industrial drill platform rolled over the edge, wobbling level again. Kallus could see an orange dome in the driver's cabinet, and green lekku swinging behind a figure clinging to the side.</p><p>"That's them!" he called. He led the way to it, letting Kanan keep clinging to his arm to guide him until they reached the ladder on the side.</p><p>Hera reached down a hand, helping Kanan up first, and then Kallus. Kanan shoved straight into the interior of the vehicle, and through the door Kallus glimpsed the Jedi beelining for the bed in the corner, where a crumpled figure in white trooper armor that must have been Ezra was laying prone. Kallus stumbled as the drill rocked underneath him, hearing Kanan's urgent calls underneath the cacophony of crumbling rock.</p><p>"Ezra! <em>Ezra!</em>"</p><p>Kallus couldn't blame the man for his worry. Kanan had been agitated ever since Ezra had disappeared through that mysterious portal, claiming he couldn't sense the boy through the Force anymore.</p><p>He lurched into the drill's interior room, grabbing onto the closest metal railing. The light was filling the cabin, blinding out everything else, filling his eyes, head, <em>ears</em> until all he could perceive was a solid wall of noise.</p><p>He clutched his anchor tighter as the earth bellowed and roared.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>A loud curse emanated from behind the door, one of the only few audible sounds he'd heard since he'd been waiting in the warm antechamber, hoping to catch the Emperor before either of them could be whisked away to their respective Imperial duties.</p><p>Thrawn tapped his fingers against the side of his thigh. He tried to temper his impatience. Over the course of the past... hour? Hour and a half? the faint noises coming from the chamber had been curiously incomprehensible. Muttered words in a strange language, like some kind of ancient spell. A faint roaring, like licking flames? It was all very strange.</p><p>There was no denying now, though—as the curses got louder and louder, the Emperor shouting in outrage at something, weak replies coming from other people in the room—that whatever business his Majesty had been engaged with, it had not gone in his favor.</p><p>Thrawn stirred in his seat. His legs were cramping anyway, so he stood, turning toward the door, peering at it.</p><p>The muffled yelling continued. Footsteps sounded close to the door and Thrawn alerted as the door slid open, and a frazzled-looking aide slipped out.</p><p>Thrawn straightened, and didn't give the aide any opportunity to escape, moving at once to intercept.</p><p>"Ah, excuse me," he said. "Might it be possible for me to have a brief audience with the Emperor?" He tried to look past the aide through the door, glimpsing only a faint bluish light. "I have a matter of importance regarding the TIE Defender program that I wish to discuss as soon as possible."</p><p>The aide moved to block the opening, strain on his face, expression flustered. "I am sorry, Grand Admiral, you cannot go in there right now."</p><p>"His Majesty promised to see me in approximately ten minutes, by his own estimation," Thrawn pointed out stiffly. "I have now been waiting for over an hour."</p><p>The aide ducked his head, shifting awkwardly on his feet. "Yes, well, I understand sir, we are terribly sorry you have been kept waiting, however," he said, "the Emperor does not wish to see anyone at this junction. Please make your requests known to Imperial Security at the front desk tomorrow."</p><p>The Grand Admiral fought back an irritated eye twitch. "I assure you, it will only take a moment—"</p><p>A profane exclamation spewed from the room beyond, and a loud crackling like static discharge sizzled in their ears, a pained yelp and odd slam following.</p><p>The aide's face twisted, valiantly attempting to keep up a polite, neutral veneer and failing miserably. "His Majesty is... very... <em>busy</em>... at the moment," he explained, voice small and tight.</p><p>Thrawn stared impassively into the eyes of the aide and made a few careful calculations, measuring his own impatience and frustration against what he could observe of Palpatine's.</p><p>He came to a strategic decision.</p><p>"...I will wait," he told the aide.</p><p>He turned swiftly back to his chair.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Everything was all so quiet when he came to that Ezra was afraid his hearing had gone out again, at first.</p><p>He sat up, blinking, blearily taking note of Sabine curled up next to him on the corner bed, the warmth of her fingers tight around one of his hands. He looked around the interior of the drill. Chopper was still up in the pilot cockpit, plugged in and recharging with a low hum. Low voices drifted from outside, Kanan and Hera speaking quietly to each other, Kallus on a comlink call with Ryder.</p><p>Zeb was seated calmly in a corner, leaning back against the wall with his arms folded, and stirred as Ezra's gaze passed across him.</p><p>"Hey Ezra," he said. "Good t' see ya awake." He grinned, extending a hand. "Need a little help?" he offered.</p><p>Ezra took Zeb's outstretched palm, carefully extracting himself from Sabine and climbing over her in order to set feet down on the floor. Sabine murmured a bit sleepily at the loss of contact, but didn't stir.</p><p>Something in his heart tugged sharply. He reached over, brushing a loose strand of her purple hair out of her eyes, warmth in his chest.</p><p><em>Thanks for staying next to me,</em> he wanted to say, but kept it in knowing she couldn't hear him right now. When she was awake, he'd tell her.</p><p>Zeb's grin was wider, knowing, when he turned back around.</p><p>"What?" Ezra asked, confused.</p><p>"Nothing," Zeb snickered.</p><p>Ezra shook his head and dismissed it, moving towards the open door. "Is it morning?" he asked. Pale white daylight was gleaming off the wide flat plain.</p><p>"Sun came up just about seven minutes ago," Zeb confirmed, standing, watching him from behind as he stepped out onto the edge of the drill.</p><p>Ezra blinked at their surroundings, seeing the ground stretch straight to the horizon. Nothing broke the level surface, even the rocks small and flat and inconsequential. Something niggled at the back of his mind about that. Ezra had a sense of <em>missing</em> which seemed out of place. Like there should have been something here.</p><p>It just seemed so... empty.</p><p>With a jolt, Ezra realized where they were and what was missing.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Kanan and Hera both turned as Ezra's cry of distress rang out from atop the drill. Kanan heard a metal squeal as his padawan slid down the ladder, his bootsteps running light and rapid across the cold ice-crusted ground as he ran up to them.</p><p>"Kanan!" he cried. "It's <em>gone!</em>"</p><p>The Jedi turned towards him in confusion. "What is?" he asked.</p><p>Hera shifted next to him, a brief flash of guilt welling in her signature. "I didn't get a chance to tell him yet," she apologized to Ezra, as the boy's breathless pants stopped in front of Kanan.</p><p>"Tell me what?" he asked again, patiently.</p><p>"The Jedi temple!" Ezra said in dismay. "We're standing right at the entrance and it's just... it's <em>gone</em>, Kanan," he finished, his voice trembling. A sorrow was clutching at Ezra's signature in the Force, tight around his heart, mirroring the horrible wrench that hit Kanan's.</p><p>He gasped softly, turning to face towards the vast emptiness. The hollow, stripped-down feeling he'd had since the drill had settled made a grim kind of sense now. Where there should have been a glowing star, bright and radiant in the Force, there was nothing but empty air. He could feel the traces of the temple's energy still lingering, like faint ghosts hovering over the surface of the ground.</p><p>"It's... it's like it never existed," came Ezra's strained, half-trembling observation.</p><p>Grief threatened to drown him a moment. They had stood here once, in this very spot, and Kanan had promised Ezra the temple would be there long after they were. But now... now this remnant of the Jedi Order was gone too, wiped away by the Empire's machinations. Erased. Like everything else.</p><p>Searching for a positive to assure Ezra with, Kanan spoke with halting fumbles. "Maybe... maybe it's for the best. The Empire can't... can't desecrate it any further. At least." He was thinking of Hera's ancestral home, how she'd rather blow it up herself than see the Empire casually living in it, making a mockery of her people.</p><p>He felt Ezra shudder, the words seeming to settle him. "Yeah..." he whispered in agreement. "Yeah it's—we <em>couldn't</em> let them get what was inside."</p><p>There was something else weighing on him, something heavy. Kanan waited for Ezra to continue, to gather his thoughts.</p><p>Hera's warmth stirred and withdrew, the Twi'lek immediately understanding without words the need to give him and Ezra some privacy. Her footsteps faded away. She spoke softly to Kallus, and their voices quieted as they both stepped back.</p><p>Kanan silently thanked her inside his head, before returning attentions to Ezra. The boy was lost in thought, drifting, his signature uncertain.</p><p>"What happened in there?" Kanan asked, quietly. "You disappeared from my senses for a while."</p><p>Ezra audibly swallowed, taking a slow breath.</p><p>"Inside... inside this portal there was... like a vast network of pathways. Like, roads hanging between the stars. A world between worlds," he said. "I could hears whispers, voices I didn't recognize and... some that I did."</p><p>Kanan listened attentively, in slight awe, as the boy explained.</p><p>"I... I think I was... <em>inside</em> the Force, somehow?" he offered helplessly, struggling for words. "Everything all felt present, like... all points in time were happening at the same moment." He paused a moment, letting Kanan mull over what he'd said.</p><p>Both of them were silent for a moment. Then:</p><p>"Ahsoka's alive."</p><p>Kanan double-took. "<em>What?</em>" he blurted.</p><p>Ezra started stammering very quickly. "Th—there was this—this convor and I followed it and—and it led me to another portal and—" He paused to inhale deeply. "I <em>saw</em> Ahsoka and Vader fighting on Malachor. The Sith temple was exploding, she pushed me—the younger me—away and Vader was going to kill her so—" He was fidgeting, his feet shifting and shuffling on the ground. "—so I—I reached into the portal and <em>grabbed</em> her and..." He stilled himself, tightening up. "...I pulled her out."</p><p>"Ezra!" Kanan said, scoldingly. "That was dangerous! You don't know what you could have done!"</p><p>"I know, I just... <em>reacted!</em>" Ezra groaned. Kanan heard the boy's fingers scratching through his hair, raking against his scalp. "Ahsoka said the same thing, said she had to go back right where I'd pulled her from, as close as possible, to avoid causing any possible damage. Anyway, she's alive, so—"</p><p>"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Kanan interrupted, waving his hands. "Are you saying she's still there on Malachor, right now?"</p><p>"Well..." Ezra sounded a bit sheepish. "She <em>was</em> there. She might not be there now. I mean it's been a year."</p><p>"This isn't confusing at all," drolled Kanan.</p><p>"Yeah I know." More grimly, a seriousness in his voice that sobered Kanan right up, Ezra went on. "But that's... that's the reason we couldn't let the Emperor... let him..."</p><p>He trailed off, emotion welling up inside him.</p><p>Kanan waited, nerves on pins and needles, for him to speak up again.</p><p>"I saw him," Ezra confessed quietly. "The Emperor. He showed me my parents." His next breath shuddered. "I saw their last moments. B-before they died in that prison. He said I could save them, if—if I..."</p><p>A hot, protective fury rose inside Kanan immediately. He felt cold anger—that Palpatine would dare threaten his kid personally, that he would dangle Ezra's parents in front of him like that, that he had been stuck up on the ridge and unable to help, unable to be there when Ezra needed him.</p><p>"It was a trick," he growled. "He never would have let you—"</p><p>"I know," Ezra interrupted. "I <em>know</em>, Kanan, I'm not stupid," he defended hotly. "But... but for a moment when I saw them I just..."</p><p>He fell silent.</p><p>Kanan heard a wet drop falling on the ground by their feet, and was already moving before he was conscious of it, pulling Ezra into a tight embrace.</p><p>Ezra trembled, breathing in stuttered, shaky gasps, standing in place numbly as Kanan held him. "I still miss them... <em>so </em>much," he told Kanan in a quivering whisper.</p><p>"I know," Kanan said, soothingly, smoothing down Ezra's collar. "I'm sorry."</p><p>"Kanan... I'm scared." Ezra pushed back, swiping an arm across his face furiously. "Palpatine. He said... he said I was the key, the linchpin to everything." He calmed as he exhaled, though Kanan could sense his anxiety rising. "The only one who could access the world between worlds." His voice shook. "He wants to use me like a tool, like some kind of anchor to get in. He's never going to stop coming after me."</p><p>Kanan reached out, grabbed his shoulder firmly. "We <em>won't</em> let that happen. We'll stop him."</p><p>"You don't know that. You can't see all the paths I can," Ezra said, cryptically.</p><p>"Ezra," Kanan stopped him firmly. "Listen to me." His hand tightened on Ezra's shoulder. "We won't let him get his hands on you. Whatever happens, we'll face it with you."</p><p>He felt his apprentice's mood lighten, calming down, settling. "Kanan..." he said. "Thank you. For everything." He inhaled slowly, his signature in the Force becoming tranquil. "I don't know what's going to happen. But I'm glad you've taught me everything you have. I wouldn't be who I am today without you."</p><p>Kanan let a fond smile play on his lips. "You've taught me almost as much as I've taught you," he told Ezra. "I love you, kid."</p><p>Ezra said nothing, but Kanan could feel his smile, and the hand that reached up to grasp his tightly.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Sabine rubbed at her eyes as she came out onto the landing. The anxiety she'd awoken with calmed as she spied Ezra out on the field with Kanan, both of them standing and looking off towards the horizon, towards the brilliant rising sun and... was that vague figure she could see the white Loth-wolf, in the distance?</p><p>She shook her head. The Force was still so mysterious to her. She was glad, in a way, though. At least she didn't have to worry about weird visions or vague notions of unease or anything else that plagued Kanan and Ezra on a regular basis.</p><p>The two Jedi were framed by the white light, and it seemed to make them look... almost ethereal. Sabine felt her heart turning over loudly as she looked at them, looked at Ezra, saw him almost aglow with energy and lightness, a beacon of hope, steadfast and determined.</p><p>When had he turned into such a warrior paragon?, she wondered, her chest squeezing tighter as she watched him. When had he become someone she wanted to stay next to until the very end, someone she cared for more than her own life?</p><p>The echoes of a piercing question repeated in her mind, as if from far away:</p><p>
  <em>"How long have you been harboring feelings for Bridger?"</em>
</p><p>She considered the answer, mulling over it in her head. And gave a weary, silent, mental curse.</p><p><em>Oh </em><em><strong>shavit</strong></em>, she thought. She <em>was</em> in love with him, wasn't she? It couldn't be more clear to her. That was why it ached when he was gone, why she couldn't function without him there, why she had to be by side his whenever she could.</p><p>Why it felt so easy and natural to curl up next to him in bed.</p><p>She closed her eyes in agonized resignation.</p><p><em>Dammit Ezra, </em>she thought, <em>why did it have to be you?</em></p><p>Still, she supposed she could have made a worse choice.</p><p>At least her father seemed to like him.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Thrawn was coming to the absolute end of his considerable patience when the door to the inner chambers <em>finally </em>opened again, a couple Imperial guards moving out to take up positions by the door and then the Emperor himself stalking out, shoulders tensed and stiff, expression twisted with contained anger.</p><p>The Grand Admiral rose swiftly, bowing his head to pay respects. "My Lord," he said, "forgive me for the intrusion but there is a matter I wish to—"</p><p>"Spare me your entreaties, Grand Admiral," the Emperor snapped, spitting the words out with venom. "My mind is made up. I am pulling all funds for the TIE Defender, effective immediately."</p><p>Uncharacteristic fury flashed across the Chiss's face for a moment, nigh imperceptible save to the closest of observers. Taking a slow breath to compose himself, Thrawn argued back calmly. "Do not let the setbacks caused by Governor Pryce's careless actions dissuade you from the soundness of the Defender as a strategic advantage," he said. "I still believe it is the best course of action if you wish to retain order and control over the known galactic spaces."</p><p>"Your opinion is noted," Palpatine spit derisively. "But my interest in Lothal remains contained to the gateway in the Jedi temple, and the gateway <em>only</em>, and that prize is already fast slipping from my grasp." One thin-fingered claw curled up to demonstrate. "I have but one last chance to seize the power within." He fixed Thrawn with a severe, yellow-eyed glare. "I have already sent your command crew instructions on a chamber I wish for you to construct aboard the <em>Chimaera. </em>You will return to Lothal <em>immediately,</em>" he emphasized, "and put down the rebel activity, with whatever means you deem necessary. Then..."</p><p>The Emperor paused significantly, and Thrawn had a horrible feeling he knew what the man was about to say.</p><p>"...you will bring the young Jedi Ezra Bridger to that chamber."</p><p>"He will not come willingly," Thrawn pointed out at once, his teeth clenching.</p><p>"Oh I have no doubt," snorted Palpatine. "I am sure if you cannot capture him you can find a way to... <em>persuade</em> him to join you, however. Jedi are nothing if not predictable." He leaned his head back stiffly, sneering with a haughty air. "I expect your full cooperation in this endeavor."</p><p>"Of course, Your Majesty," Thrawn jumped to assure him, cursing inside his head that he was going to have to deal with Bridger <em>again</em>.</p><p>That trembling, hot, <em>feral</em> energy was threatening inside him again, vibrating under his outward facade of calm. Despite his hours and hours of analysis, Thrawn had failed to reach any kind of definite conclusion to the enigma that was the young Jedi. He could not ascertain what magic or sorcery had let the boy survive his interrogation, nor continue eluding him and his forces. The anomaly remained an unknown factor, and he did not like unknown factors in close contact with his operations. They were erratic, disruptive... <em>unpredictable.</em></p><p>If he could persuade the Emperor to simply slay the anomaly instead, erase it like so much corrupted and unusable data...</p><p>He decided to push forward.</p><p>"I might suggest, however, that it would be more expedient to simply execute the boy, along with his companions. He has proven... troublesome."</p><p>Emperor Palpatine's face was frighteningly wrathful for a moment. "I need him <em>alive</em>, Thrawn," he emphasized again, harshly, firmly. "<em>He</em> is the key. My anchorpoint into the world between worlds that will give me control over all of time and space."</p><p>"He is <em>irrelevant</em>," Thrawn contended, openly agitated now and forgetting all decorum, deciding for the moment not to comment on the Emperor's nonsensical ideas of controlling time and space. "There is nothing special about that boy that cannot be replicated by another," he all but snarled through his teeth.</p><p>"Oh?" sneered the Emperor. "Have you managed to come across another Jedi in the interim between our last meeting and now?" he challenged. "One intimately connected to Lothal perhaps? Then do not presume to claim that he is so replaceable."</p><p>There seemed to be an internal scream scraping at the sides of his skull, and Thrawn was forced to concede the point with his silence. His hands clenched slowly into fists by his sides.</p><p>"I have studied the boy extensively, Your Excellency, and I do not believe attempting to utilize him—"</p><p>A warning hand was raised and Thrawn stopped talking at once.</p><p>Palpatine lowered his hand, folding it into the other across his stomach.</p><p>"Your obsession with Bridger will be your undoing," he said witheringly, tone scornful.</p><p>Thrawn resisted the urge to roll his eyes and point out the hypocrisy of the man's <em>own </em>clear fixation on the anomaly and his supposed unique qualities, biting down hard on his lip and fuming.</p><p>"You will bring him to me," Palpatine reaffirmed. "And he will either serve the purpose I intend for him, or he will be destroyed."</p><p>On that, at least, Thrawn was in agreement. And he would be only too happy to carry it out himself, he decided, feeling the vibrations inside him thrumming a little louder.</p><p>"You are dismissed," Palpatine said stiffly. He lifted his chin back in a manner that clearly said the conversation was over.</p><p>Thrawn paid his respects begrudgingly and turned on his heel to depart, anger still ringing in his ears.</p><p>He could feel the Emperor's eyes like sizzling lightning on his back as he left.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Pryce gripped the datapad with slowly tightening fingers, fear and dread solidifying inside of her as she read the words.</p><p>A few minutes prior, an officer had delivered her the report, data-encrypted and password-sealed, containing the forensics analysis that confirmed that it was <em>not</em> Kanan Jarrus's remains that they had found outside the fuel depot.</p><p>No one else had seen these results—she had given <em>explicit</em> instructions to that end, jealously demanding to hoard the information in her paranoia. No one could know, <em>especially </em>Thrawn. His wrath upon her, already promising to be terrible indeed, would be even worse if he found out that her one positive offering—the death of the Jedi master—had been a pitiful lie.</p><p>Panic was spiraling through her, growing sharper and sharper with every moment. Frantic thoughts swirled around in her mind, repeating as one single idea:</p><p>
  <em>Fix this.</em>
</p><p>She could fix this, there was plenty of time before Thrawn returned, she <em>had </em>to fix this. All she had to do was locate the Rebels' new base of operations. Then she would kill the Jedi herself if she had to. It would be easy. Thrawn would never have to know. She could fix this.</p><p>She gripped the edges of the datapad so hard it threatened to crack.</p><p>She <em>would</em> fix this.</p><p>-SWR-</p><p>Thrawn sat and stewed in his office as he waited for the workers in the auxiliary hanger to be finished, tapping at the desk, irritated thoughts chasing each other around inside his head.</p><p>They were transplanting the front doorway of the Lothal temple from the bowels of the Imperial Palace to the <em>Chimaera</em>.</p><p>A painstaking feat he <em>should</em> have appreciated, were he not reduced to a mere busboy hauling it back and forth. A remarkable work of art that <em>should </em>have been the finest piece in his collection, were he not disallowed from studying it, forced to be content to observe it from a distance while Palpatine used it for his own purposes.</p><p>His teeth ground together harder, his tapping fingers tensing.</p><p>Confound the mysteries of the Force! Confound that he was surrounded by beings that put their trust in unknowable, unstudied mysticism, or resource-guzzling superweapons rather than sound military strategy!</p><p>The multiplying indignities flitted through his head. Pryce's trigger-happy temper blowing up the factories, ruining production of his prized starfighter. Krennic and his blasted, wasteful, ego-inflating Stardust Project. His last-ditch attempt at appealing directly to the Emperor on behalf of the Defender flung back in his face and being immediately sent back to <em>fetch</em> the cause of all of it, the recurring factor in the ruination of all his endeavors, so that his Emperor could use him to perform <em>magic rituals</em>.</p><p>The feral energy inside him snapped a moment and he swept his arm sharply across his desk, knocking datapads off with a harsh slap. They clattered on the floor and he immediately curled his shaking hands, willing the flush away from his face and the heat out of his chest.</p><p>Control. He had to keep himself... under control.</p><p>He shuddered, his breath rattling out of him. He focused his breathing into a even tempo, calming his heartrate through sheer force of will, and the feverish tingles running along his nerves and spine slowly faded.</p><p><em>I must... remain focused</em>, he thought. He could not allow these undignified brutish outbursts to continue to happen. He was <em>not</em> going to be unnerved by all this... <em>mysticism.</em></p><p>A little chime came from his desk. Thrawn punched the button to receive the communication.</p><p><em>"All finished, sir,"</em> the voice on the other end reported. <em>"Artifact is secured."</em></p><p>Cold resolve hardened inside him. Thrawn composed himself, stoic tranquility dropping over him like a heavy curtain.</p><p>He rose from his seat.</p><p>The <em>moment</em> the Emperor was finished with Bridger, the minute the boy no longer served a purpose, Thrawn vowed, he would eliminate the young Jedi.</p><p>No mistakes. No room for error.</p><p>"Prepare for departure," he ordered crisply, red eyes even and leveled. He clasped hands behind his back as he started walking for the door. "Set course for Lothal."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING, your chapter notes!</p><p>1. Needed some protective Big Brother Zeb, so I wrote it in. I just love that moment in the episode where he boosts Ezra and then catches him Pieta-style after he collapses.</p><p>2. As I said, Kallus needs a very long nap, lol.</p><p>3. I will <i>never</i> forgive Timothy Zhan for not taking advantage of the comedic potential of watching Thrawn just slowly lose his shit as things unravel around him in <i>Thrawn: Treason</i>. The mental image of him waiting awkwardly in the wings while Palpatine is busy doing all his weird Sith sorcery in his secret inner chamber was also too hilarious to pass up. Hey, if canon won't give me what I want, I just gotta write it myself.</p><p>4. Managed to wring some last little emotional whump out of this final chapter. Ezra's anxieties will play a large roll in the next fic, all I can say is I'm looking forward to bringing him some closure about everything.</p><p>5. Oh no Sabine has had A Realization, ha ha. Realized I needed some juicy shiptease to end with, didn't want you guys to think I'd forgotten about them. Big things to come for them next fic.</p><p>6. Pryce's day continues to get worse. :)</p><p>7. As does Thrawn's. He is just <i>surrounded</i> by incompetents isn't he? Has to do <i>everything</i> himself, lol.</p><p>A bit of a cliffhanger to leave you off on, and I apologize. I realize a lot of this fic is basically just laying groundwork for the final confrontation but hopefully I've whet your appetites for that nicely. Thank you all again for sticking with me through this rollercoaster journey, and I look forward to seeing you all in the last story!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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